BRS has a head start as it has finalised its candidates. BJP, Congress are struggling on this front; may announce lists by mid-Oct.
KTR addressing an election rally on Monday, 9 October, after the ECI announced Telangana Assembly election dates. (X)
After the Election Commission of India (ECI) sounded the bugle for the Assembly polls on Monday, 9 October, the three mainstream parties in Telangana — the BRS, Congress and the BJP — have become hyperactive.
Even as the Congress and BJP are grappling with the finalisation of candidates for the elections, the BRS is forging ahead with its campaign plans.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao, reacting to the announcement of the schedule, said that BRS is poised to score a hattrick in the state. He said on social media platform X that the Congress and the BJP have lost hope in the election even before the battle began.
He said that the BRS is sure to “hit a century” — 100 of the 119 seats in the Assembly — in the elections. The 10 years of development in the state will decide the outcome in favour of the BRS, he said, adding that the BRS was battle-ready.
“KCR will become the chief minister for the third time,” he said, and exuded confidence that he would create history in South India. The parties that are impeding the progress of Telangana would bite the dust, he said.
It is said that KCR will file his nomination papers for Gajwel and Kamareddy Assembly seats on 9 November after performing pooja to Swamy Venkateswara Swamy at the Konayapalli temple in Siddipet district.
The chief minister is also expected to confer with the BRS candidates in the fray on 15 October and discuss the campaign going forward as hardly 50 days are left for the election.
He is expected to finalise the candidates for the four seats which he had left out, and for Malkajgiri, where sitting BRS MLA Mynampalli Hanumanth Rao has joined the Congress
At the meeting, KCR is expected make a deep dissection of various factors that might stand in the way of winning seats in various districts, and would give direction to the candidates on overcoming them. After that he would get cracking with campaigning in the state.
The BJP is apparently struggling with the finalisation of its list of candidates. The process has been taking much too long and, according to party sources South First spoke to, the first list might be out by the middle of this month.
However, according to state unit chief Kishan Reddy, 50 percent of the names have already been finalised.
Already, the saffron party set the tone for the elections with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing huge rallies in Telangana in a span of three days recently. The party’s top leader and Union Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to address a public meeting in Adilabad on Tuesday, 10 October.
The BJP said it was ready to face the elections to the Telangana Assembly.
Kishan Reddy said on Monday, 9 October, that ending the corrupt raj of KCR was possible only with the saffron party. He said that the people wanted a corruption-free rule in the state. “They want corruption and family rule thrown out,” he said.
Party sources accessed by South First differed with Kishan Reddy’s claim of 50 percent seats being finalised. They said names for 40 seats have been finalised and the list was sent to the party national leadership for formal approval.
All the four sitting MPs want to contest in the Assembly elections.
The Congress is also a laggard in the finalisation of its candidates.
After its unexpected landslide victory in Karnataka, its prospects improved in Telangana. A number of leaders are now aspiring for Congress tickets, but the party has taken a measured and calibrated approach.
It does not want to fritter away yet another opportunity of capturing power in Telangana by being careless in the selection of candidates. It is weighing the chances of aspirants of winning the elections with the help of surveys.
According to sources, the party is waiting for defections as, in some constituencies, it does not have strong candidates. Alongside, the party is also planning a bus yatra from 15 October to keep up the tempo across the state. The party leaders want to touch all the Assembly segments with bus yatra.
State unit president A Revanth Reddy, Telangana in-charge Manikrao Thakre, senior leader Batti Vikramarka, and the party’s political strategist Sunil Kanugolu are scripting strategies for keeping the party aloft all through the campaign period.
They are planning to get Priyanka Gandhi to flag off bus yatra. She may stay in Hyderabad for two days to infuse new strength into the party’s sinews. The party leaders want to also involve MP Rahul Gandhi and national president Mallikarjun Kharge in the campaign.
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