The focus of the Congress' election campaign, which would kick off on 2 February, would be to expose the nexus between the BRS and the BJP.
Published Jan 31, 2024 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 31, 2024 | 7:34 AM
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy addresses a meeting of the Telangana Congress' Pradesh Election Committee in Hyderabad on 30 January. (Supplied)
The Telangana Congress Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) met on Tuesday, 30 January, and took stock of the status of the party in the state in the run-up to the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha elections.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who chaired the meeting, said the PEC authorised All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge and the party’s Central Election Committee to decide on who should be fielded in the Rajya Sabha elections.
As regards the Lok Sabha elections, the party is expected to begin receiving applications from aspirants on 3 March.
Those who belong to SC and ST communities will have to pay ₹25,000 as an application fee, while all others will have to pay ₹50,000.
ముఖ్యమంత్రి, టిపిసిసి అధ్యక్షులు శ్రీ @revanth_anumula గారి అధ్యక్షతన, ఏఐసీసీ ఇంచార్జ్ శ్రీమతి దీపా దాస్ మున్శి గారు ముఖ్య అతిథిగా తెలంగాణ ప్రదేశ్ ఎలక్షన్ కమిటీ గాంధీ భవన్ లో సమావేశం నిర్వహించారు.
ఈ కార్యక్రమంలో మంత్రులు, ఎమ్మెల్యేలు, ఎమ్మెల్సీలు, ఏఐసీసీ కార్యదర్శులు రోహిత్… pic.twitter.com/Oxl7g44EgK
— Telangana Congress (@INCTelangana) January 30, 2024
Speaking to reporters after the meeting at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad, the chief minister said that the party was aiming to win all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, and ground-level work was being carried out for that.
For each Lok Sabha constituency, one senior leader or a minister would be put in charge to ensure proper coordination in campaigning.
The Central Election Committee is expected to finalise the candidates for Lok Sabha elections between 15 and 20 March.
The chief minister said that the Telangana Congress was expecting a response from the party high command to its request to Sonia Gandhi to contest from Telangana.
“If she decides to contest, her election should be made unanimous as it was she who delivered Telangana,” he said.
The focus of the campaign, which would kick off at Indervelli in Adilabad district on 2 February, would be to expose the nexus between the BRS and the BJP, said Revanth.
“It is as clear as daylight that the BRS, by asking people to vote against the Congress, was implying that the people should vote for the BJP, as the fight will be between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha elections,” he said.
The party would also target the BJP for not honouring the commitments made in the AP State Reorganisation Act, like a steel plant in Bayyaram, a railway coach factory in Kazipet, and national-project status for any one of the irrigation projects.
Even the tribal-university proposal was cleared only recently, after 10 long years, he said.
The chief minister said the campaign would also focus on the promises that the BJP made to the people — like doubling farmers’ income and flushing out black money stashed way in foreign banks — and how it failed to implement them.
If it was BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao who pushed the state into a morass of ₹7 lakh crore debt, Narendra Modi raised a staggering ₹100 lakh crore debt, he said.
He said that as far as Telangana was concerned, the Congress needed to come to power at the Centre.
“It is only then that the state government would be able to implement all the promises made to the people. Earlier, KCR did not ask and Modi did not give anything. This time, it is the Congress which will ask and it will be the Congress which will give,” he said.
Responding to a question on why BRS MLAs had met him recently, he said he would meet any MLA if they approached him with problems the people were facing.
“Even KCR, KT Rama Rao or Harish Rao are welcome to come and see me. If I am not around, they could call on Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka,” he said.
The chief minister said that he was not talking much about the BRS as it was dead as dodo now and did not merit any attention.
The BRS’ broadside against the Congress government betrayed how panicked it was. “It is a feeble attempt to preserve their existence,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Congress is eyeing two of the three Rajya Sabha seats for which the Election Commission of India has already issued the schedule.
The three seats that will fall vacant on 1 April are now represented by the BRS’ J Santosh Kumar, Badugula Lingaiah Yadav, and Vaddiraju Ravichandra.
The nominations for the election would begin on 8 February and polling would be held on 27 February.
Considering the numbers the Congress and the BRS have in the Assembly, the pink party could win one seat.
At present, the Congress has 64 members and the CPI — its ally — only one, while the BRS has 39 members.
The AIMIM, which is the BRS’ ally, has seven members in the house while the BJP has eight seats. The BRS and the AIMIM together have 46 seats
The election would be unanimous if only three candidates were fielded. If there are more than three candidates in the fray, then voting would be necessitated. For one to win the election for a Rajya Sabha seat, they would need to get 40 votes.
It is not yet clear who the BRS will field for the one seat it can win. The party may renominate one of the three Rajya Sabha members retiring or might even field Kavitha Kalvakuntla, as KCR’s daughter — already a Telangana MLC — has for quite some been taking an active interest in national issues like women’s reservation and taking part in events which have a bearing on national politics.
When KCR was contemplating leading a coalition of non-Congress and non-BJP parties at the Centre, he used to take her along to Delhi and make her participate in the dialogues he held with other leaders.
As far as the Congress is concerned, one of the two seats would go to the AICC for it to nominate any national leader or a leader from any other state.
That leaves one seat for which there is acute competition. The aspirants include senior leaders like Madhu Goud Yashki, Addanki Dayakar, K Jana Reddy, SA Sampath Kumar, and Renuka Chowdhury.
The TPCC has already requested Sonia Gandhi to represent Telangana in the Rajya Sabha as it would be too strenuous for her to contest in the Lok Sabha polls.
There is no confirmation on whether she would go to Rajya Sabha from Telangana, but the party is keen as it would help it in the Lok Sabha polls.
If she decides to go to the Upper House from Telangana, the Congress is planning to campaign in the Lok Sabha polls that Sonia Gandhi, who had gifted Telangana to its people, was taking care of its interest by representing them in Parliament.
There is always the possibility of the Congress fielding a third candidate. Though it has no numbers to win the third seat, the party may be tempted to try its luck.
The Congress may try to encourage cross-voting from the BRS in the wake of a few BRS MLAs calling on the chief minister recently, ostensibly for the development of their respective constituencies.
But enticing the BRS MLAs to resort to cross-voting is a long shot, as it may not be possible for the Congress to get that much covert support from the pink party.
