Prospects of getting tickets in Assembly elections
SNCN ACHARYULU
Hyderabad
With Assembly elections approaching BRS MLAs are panicky about their future. Even after BRS President Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s open announcement that all sitting MLAs will be given tickets in the next Assembly elections speculations in party circles are making them apprehensive.
There are speculations that KCR has already started selecting candidates for the next Assembly elections. BRS MLAs who are going to surely win are being given signals about their candidature and they are being asked to extensively campaign in their constituencies.
But the BRS leadership is maintaining secrecy regarding this as sitting MLAs who are not being given tickets can get frightened about their tickets.
The next Assembly elections are crucial for the BRS, the Congress and the BJP. While the BRS wants to retain power, the Congress wants to regain its old glory. The BJP wants to make Telangana its second gateway in the south by winning the Assembly elections.
In this crucial situation, no party wants to take anything easy. If any party makes mistakes, it will become an advantage to its opponents. So the BRS leadership wants to maintain secrecy till the last minute about MLAs getting tickets to prevent them from jumping to other parties.
Sitting BRS MLAs who have not got any information about their tickets from the party leadership are not in a position to jump to other parties. If BRS MLAs are denied tickets their first choice will be the Congress and the second one the BJP.
If at the last minute, they want to join the Congress or the BJP by that time both parties may have finalised their candidates.
Without formal information from the leadership about the denial of tickets sitting BRS MLAs do not want to take a decision.
The BJP is waiting for BRS MLAs so that they can be inducted before the Assembly elections. The BJP thinks that if it does that it can impact the BRS.
Sources said that around 25 BRS MLAs are likely to be denied tickets by the party leadership. The BRS leadership has analysed the prospects of sitting MLAs using several methods.
In the first phase, the BRS leadership will clear tickets for sitting MLAs those who have good prospects as per reports and those who have no competition from other leaders within the party. Sources said the BRS leadership is asking such MLAs to go ahead with campaigning.
The BRS is loaded with leaders who had joined from other parties. In fact, in the BRS migrant leaders have more importance than those who were in the party from the very beginning.
There is also a dispute between these two groups since a long time. Against this backdrop before winning Assembly elections the selection of candidates and appeasing dissidents is the first test for the BRS leadership.
