SNCN ACHARYULU
Hyderabad
Ahead of the Assembly elections, the BRS and the BJP are targeting the Congress. The Congress has strong hopes of coming to power in Telangana like in Karnataka. The BRS is likely to face tough competition from the Congress in the coming Assembly elections.
Before the Karnataka Assembly elections, the BJP was being hyped up in Telangana and many thought that it has a chance of coming to power in Telangana.
But after the Karnataka Assembly elections, the political picture changed in Telangana. BJP leaders have lost hope of coming to power in Telangana and have started defecting. The removal of Bandi Sanjay Kumar also had a severe impact on the BJP.
With the BJP weakening the hopes of the Congress of coming to power have increased. In these circumstances, both the BRS and the BJP have launched Operation Aakarsh to attract Congress leaders.
Even though the BJP is weak in the state the strong possibility of it coming to power at the Centre a third time is attracting some Congress leaders. While senior BJP leaders are planning to leave the party the fresh inductions in the BJP from the Congress have created confusion among leaders who are planning to leave the party.
Recently two former Congress MLAs from Adilabad district, Sanjeev Rao and A. Sridevi, joined the BJP. At the same time former MLA Akuka Rajendar, former MLC M. Ranga Reddy, former DCCB Chairman Laxma Reddy and another former DCCB Chairman M. Jaipal Refdy joined the BJP.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Anil Kumar Reddy recently joined the BRS. The BRS and the BJP are concentrating on the erstwhile Khammam, Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar districts where the Congress is strong.
The strategy of the BRS and the BJP is to weaken the Congress and attract its leaders where that party is strong and to admit strong Congress leaders if their parties have no strong candidates. The Congress is also trying to attract BRS and BJP leaders to counter the BRS and the BJP.
If the Congress weakens it will help the BRS and not the BJP. The BJP does not mind if the BRS retains power as at the national level the Congress is the main rival of the BJP.
If the Congress wins the TS Assembly elections it will help it to win more seats in Lok Sabha elections. BJP leaders think that if the BRS wins the Assembly elections and a majority of the Lok Sabha seats in Telangana there are chances of it supporting the BJP as the BRS will not support the Congress.
