With the political equations changing the BRS leadership is now concentrating on the Congress as it prepares for the Telangana Assembly elections.
Till the Karnataka Assembly elections, there were speculations that the BRS leadership is having a soft corner for the Congress to fight the BJP.
The joint moves by the BRS and the Congress in Parliament against the BJP and BRS MPs attending meetings called by the Congress strengthened speculations about the soft corner of the BRS for the Congress.
But the defeat of the BJP in Karnataka changed the political atmosphere in Telangana. Now the Congress leadership is more confident about coming to power in Telangana and the Congress has become the main adversary of the BRS in Telangana.
The BRS will now focus on fighting the Congress than the BJP in the Telangana Assembly elections. This will change the way the BRS looks at the Congress. In other words, the BJP is the reason for the increase in enmity between the BRS and the Congress.
If the BJP had won the Karnataka Assembly elections the political situation would have been different. In the current political scenario, the BRS leadership will strongly advocate keeping equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress.
When there were speculations about an alliance between the BRS and the Congress the latter’s leadership categorically denied them and later the BRS also denied it. But there were doubts among political observers as the opposition had started attempts to unite anti-BJP parties under Congress leadership.
After the Karnataka Assembly elections, the opposition parties will increase their attempts to unite anti-BJP parties. Some opposition parties like the Trinamool Congress were opposed to sailing with the Congress but later they changed their mind.
But the situation of the BRS is different from other opposition parties. The opposition parties who are trying to unite anti-BJP parties and sail with the Congress are not facing any challenge from the Congress in their states as the Congress is not their main political adversary.
For example, Sharad Pawar of Maharashtra and Nitish Kumar of Bihar are trying to unite opposition parties. Both Sharad Pawar and Nitish Kumar have an alliance with the Congress in their states. Mamata Banerjee is also attempting the same, but in West Bengal, the main adversary of the Trinamool Congress is the BJP and not the Congress.
In Telangana, the Congress is the main adversary of the BRS and therefore it cannot join hands with the Congress. In the present circumstances, the BRS will continue its stand of maintaining equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress.
