NAVEENA GHANATE
Hyderabad
Although the party’s New Delhi-based brass takes the final decision in the Congress, Karnataka is going to play a major role in the party’s functioning during the forthcoming Telangana Assembly elections.
With the party expecting a significant attack from the ruling BRS, the Congress is moving its men and gadgets to Karnataka. It is learnt from reliable sources that the political strategy team of the Congress has moved to Karnataka with decent hikes and relocation costs. Sources said that even before the Karnataka elections the office of Sunil Kanugolu was raided and all data there was seized up from the party’s strategy team. As the BRS is using the police to hound its strategy teams the Congress is now shifting its base to Karnataka. Sources said that recently KTR himself said that the Congress is our main adversary and we know how they work especially their strategists. “We can’t let our party leaders, cadres and employees live constantly fearing arrests and false cases. Any work that can be done remotely will be done outside Telangana,” Congress sources said.
They added that they anticipate the kind of attack that Chandrababu Naidu and IPAC faced during the last elections. “We are moving not just the strategy team, but also official meetings which will be held only in Karnataka. Leaders and ticket hopefuls are going to meet DK Sivakumar and Siddaramaiah,” they added. Congress sources said that some BRS leaders met Congress leaders in Karnataka after the Congress victory.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Congress leaders will be coming to Telangana one after the other. Sources said that the BC Declaration is likely to be held under the aegis of Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah at Bhongir or Suryapet.
Sources indicated that the vote share of the Congress increased in Telangana after the Karnataka win as per internal surveys. The sources also hinted that the party is planning to move leaders to Karnataka in case the Assembly is hung.
