New Delhi, Oct 8 : Despite being the world’s largest party, several states in South India are still formidable fortresses outside the BJP’s ambit. Until now, the BJP held power in Karnataka, but it faced defeat in the Assembly elections in May this year. The party is now focusing more on Telangana.
In the 2018 Assembly polls, the BJP had garnered approximately 6.98 per cent of the votes in Telangana, which was considerably higher than the 3.51 per cent received by Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and the 2.71 per cent secured by Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM. However, the number of seats won by the BJP was fewer than both these parties.
Owaisi had won seven seats, and Naidu had secured two seats, but despite contesting on a large scale and putting all their might into the elections, the BJP could only win one seat.
Therefore, the BJP is attempting to replicate the formula of the victory it achieved in West Bengal (from 3 to 77 Assembly seats) in Telangana as well.
Under the three-tier formula of Bengal, while the BJP has opened a significant front against the KCR government (TRS) on the one hand, the party is also deploying Union Ministers, MPs, and prominent leaders from the state to create a favourable environment for the party in the Assembly elections.
The BJP is also trying to woo Hindu voters in the state by highlighting the relations between Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and Asaduddin Owaisi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP national president J.P. Nadda have been continuously targeting the TRS government during their visits to Telangana.
On Friday, Nadda addressed the Telangana BJP state council meeting and strongly criticised the state government.
Nadda, speaking about corruption, said that TRS stands for “Telangana Rashtriya Samithi” as well as “Transparency Removal Samithi.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a rally in the state on Tuesday, revealed that he rejected Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s request to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
To create a favorable atmosphere for the BJP in the state, the party has decided to field Union Ministers, MPs, and prominent leaders from the state in the Assembly elections.
In Telangana, the BJP has one MP, G. Kishan Reddy, who currently holds the positions of both the state president of the party and Union Minister. Another BJP MP from Telangana, B. Sanjay Kumar, was recently removed from the state president’s post and appointed the party’s national general secretary.
According to party sources, the BJP may field its four MPs, including G. Kishan Reddy and B. Sanjay Kumar, in the Assembly polls.
The BJP is also making efforts to convey a message to the voters of Telangana that the state is not only ruled by K. Chandrashekar Rao and Asaduddin Owaisi’s party but also the Congress.
The BJP has launched a campaign on social media with the hashtag #SaveTelangana, through which the party is trying to convince the state’s voters that “Vote for Congress = Seat for TRS = AIMIM rule,” meaning that voting for the Congress would mean giving seats to the TRS and ultimately bringing the AIMIM to power in the state.
