BRS, Congress, BJP eye dividends in north Telangana districts

Hyderabad: Political equations have changed drastically in north Telangana districts after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Incidentally, North Telangana is where the political action is.

The BRS, which made a near clean sweep of north Telangana districts in the 2018 Assembly polls, lost Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Adilabad to BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, which were held a few months later.
Now, all the three major contenders, BRS, Congress and the BJP are facing a do-or-die battle in the region, where 54 decisive seats are up for grabs.

The Congress undertook a three-day Vijayabheri bus yatra with Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public meeting in Nizamabad on October 3.

BRS boss and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will cover north Telangana districts from November 1 to 9.

Of the BRS tally of 63 in 2014, north Telangana contributed 30, which is half of the majority mark of 60 in the 119-seat Assembly. Although, the ruling party’s showing was comparatively poor in south Telangana districts, the seats it won in the northern districts helped it to come to power. In 2018, the BRS improved its tally to 54.

The Congress, on the other hand, suffered its worst-ever defeat in north Telangana in 2014, winning just seven while it won 11 seats in 2018. Ironically, most legislators shifted to the BRS, subsequently, thereby forcing the Congress to search for new candidates.

The BJP drew a blank in 2014 and 2018 Assembly polls with most of its candidates failing to retain their deposits. But the party's stunning performance in the Lok Sabha polls came as a shot in the arm.

As per the latest regional outreach survey (ROS) findings, Congress is predicted to sweep north Telangana districts, following Rahul Gandhi's bus yatra and the promises made by him on enhancing SC, ST reservations and according national status to Medaram Jatara.

The survey predicted that the vote share of Congress would be 44 per cent, followed by BRS 41 per cent and BJP 10 per cent in the north Telangana districts.