SNCN ACHARYULU
Hyderabad
Now all eyes are on BRS leaders who were refused Assembly tickets. The public is curious to know whether the appeasement attempts of the BRS leadership will work or whether they will join the Congress or the BJP camps.
Many BRS leaders who were in the run for Assembly tickets brought pressure on MLC K. Kavitha, the daughter of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, before the candidates’ list was announced.
Although some BRS leaders understood the situation after the BRS leadership explained why they were not given tickets it is clear that they are not happy.
For the first time, the BRS leadership faced pressure from leaders over the selection of candidates. Unlike the 2014 and 2018 Assembly elections, this time many BRS leaders are openly expressing their discontent against the leadership for not giving them tickets.
The Congress and the BJP are trying to attract BRS dissidents. At the same time, the BRS is trying to please dissidents by promising them that they will be given goodies after the party comes to power in the Assembly elections.
Some sitting BRS MLAs and other hopefuls who were denied tickets are planning to contest as Independents. They may not win but they can damage the prospects of official BRS candidates.
Senior BRS leaders are trying to convince unhappy party leaders not to spoil their future by leaving the party which is going to come to power. They are telling them that if they continue in the party and work for the victory of official candidates they will have a bright future.
The Congress strategy is to attract strong BRS leaders or otherwise encourage them to contest as rebels. The Congress thinks that if BRS leaders who were denied tickets contest as rebels it will help their candidates to bag some constituencies.
Some BRS leaders are preparing to conduct meetings with their followers to take a decision. Vemulawada BRS MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh who is in Germany now said in a tweet that if he was denied a ticket he will take a decision after discussing it with his associates.
The followers of Narsapur BRS MLA Madanlal are asking him to leave the party. In an interesting development, Malkajgiri BRS MLA, M. Hanumantha Rao, strongly criticised Finance Minister T. Harish Rao.
He said that the Malkajgiri Assembly ticket should be given to him or the Medak Assembly ticket should be given to his son or otherwise he will try to defeat Harish Rao in Siddipet.
