A fierce, no-holds-barredcontest is on the cards in Telangana between the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is leading the government at the Centre, and the Bharat Rashtra Samiti, which is on the verge of completing two terms in the state. With both the parties aiming at hat-trick in 2023, the election year ahead will see some aggressive posturing at the state and central levels in the backdrop of the unfolding ramifications of the Delhi liquor scam.
Since there is going to be no dearth of funds for both the parties, which have been in power since 2014, it would be an unequal fight when it comes to their other political rivals. By default, money power is considered key to attain success in elections these days. Although lovers of democracy may look askance, it is a glaring fact that many of the voters would expect (and surely would have got!)something in cash or kind before going to the polling booth to exercise their franchise.
At the party level, today it costs heavily to get even a Rajya Sabha seat, leave alone a Lok Sabha ticket. In AP, a serving member of the Rajya Sabha allegedly paid Rs.100crore to his party’s leadership for RS nomination! His reasoning is that there would be no guarantee for the LS candidate to win, though in the case of RS, the writing on the wall is clear.
The ramifications of the Delhi liquor scam, apart from resulting in the resignation of two ministers in the Delhi government headed by Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Admi Party, have turned the spotlight on the ‘south group’ and its key member, going by the ‘findings’ of the
Enforcement Directorate and the notices sent to Kavitha -BRS MLC and daughter of TS Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao — for enquiry. There is no doubt that the BJP is deriving a lot of political mileage out of this scam.
The saffron party, which has been projecting itself as an alternative to BRS in Telangana, is preparing to go aggressively this time. Five decades back, BJP’s ideological forerunner Bharatiya Jana Sangh(BJS) had eight members in the Assembly of combined Andhra Pradesh.
After the failure of the Janata experiment at the centre in 1979, which led to the collapse of the Janata government headed by Morarji Desai, the cream of BJS came out and launched BJP on 6April 1980 with Atal Behari Vajpayee as its first president. Delhi had been the stronghold of BJP and the Congress was its principal opponent for several years until AAP replaced the latter. The BJP had suffered a big shock at the hands of the Congress in the Delhi municipal elections in 1983, prompting an emotional Vajpayee to resign from the post of party’s national president. L K Advani had taken the reins of the party in1986. In some pockets of the country the BJP had become so strong that it could ensure the defeat of even the ruling party.
Despite being a new entrant in Andhra Pradesh politics, the Telugu Desam Party stormed to power in January 1983, defeating the Congress. AP’s bifurcation has helped BJP to spread further in Telangana. As BJP advocates Hindutva policy, it may be easy for the
party to spread its ideology further in the Telangana region, which is religiously sensitive.
The All India Majlis-eIttehadul Muslimeen(MIM) had opposed AP’s bifurcation, believing it would help BJP become stronger in Telangana region. BJP has, over the years, become stronger by using its clout the national level. It has created an impression that fight during the upcoming Assembly elections would be mainly between BJP and BRS, with the Congress nowhere in the picture. Towards that end, BRS has already stripped Congress of its status as the principal opposition party by luring its legislators.
KCR, after becoming very strong in Telangana, has decided to spread his wings in national politics. The Delhi liquor scam has given him ammunition to target the Narendra Modi government at the Centre by joining forces with Arvind Kejriwal and other leaders opposing the BJP.
The larger question is: Will the people of Telangana endorse whatever KCR has to say on the liquor scam by linking it up with T-pride and selfrespect?Only time will tell whether Telangana will buy the ED findings linking Kavitha to the scam. Amidst all this, the approach of the Reddy community is going to be crucial, as all along they have been extending support to the Congress. Now, the BJP is trying to win over that community too. It has already pinched NDMA vice chairman M. Shasidhar Reddy and combined AP’s last chief minister N. KiranKumar Reddy from the Congress.
All told, the 2023 electoral fight in Telangana may be a fierce one, largely between BRS and BJP.
