HYDERABAD: As the youngest state of the country, Telangana, is all set to open doors for its third assembly elections, the state is all set to witness a fiercely fought triangular electoral contest.
The three parties are all set to battle it out as the Bharath Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, grappling with anti-incumbency, fights it out with a resurgent Congress with various poll promises and a Bharatiya Janata Party which is hoping to be a decision maker once votes are counted on 3 December.
Following interactions with people from different regions, including southern Telangana and Hyderabad, the K Chandrashekhar Rao-led BRS looks to have an upper-hand among voters, especially focusing on farmers, women and minorities, owing to flagship schemes such as the Rythu Bandhu and the Rythu Bheema.
FLASH : South superstar Chiranjeevi casts his vote in Jubilee Hills during the Telangana polls.
Reports : @viveknarayanan#TelanganaElections #TelanganaElection2023 pic.twitter.com/pdTVh4rBDD
— The New Indian (@TheNewIndian_in) November 30, 2023
Both schemes have made a major impact on farmers, providing them with financial stability and security. However, there is resentment among a section of voters in South Telangana, where they feel that they have been ignored as compared to the people in Northern regions.
“For farmers like me the Rythu Bandhu scheme has helped a lot as we received financial support when the harvest began and during the beginning of the second season, machineries and fertilizers were also provided to us at a subsidised rate”, said Ramulu, a 60-year-old farmer from Gajwel to The New Indian.
In 2018, the BRS won 88 seats of the 119, with a vote share of 46.9 per cent as opposed to the Congress that finished second with 19 seats and 28.4% of the vote. The November 30 elections are likely to be closer by all accounts.
However, the farmers of Southern Telangana and also few pockets in the northern regions of the state have felt neglected under the BRS government, owing to accusations of corruption and arrogance by local leaders. This has also led to anti-incumbency among numerous party workers on ground.
FLASH : #Telangana CM K. Chandrashekhar Rao casts his vote.#TelanganaElections
Reports @Viveknarayan805 pic.twitter.com/3wg2cdMzyD— The New Indian (@TheNewIndian_in) November 30, 2023
By announcing its candidates three months back, the BRS was the first to hit the campaign trail, way ahead of others. Confident of winning a third term, the party has repeated almost all of its sitting MLAs, barring seven constituencies.
The party’s narrative this election season has been around welfare schemes as well as a major breakthrough by implementing various irrigation projects such as the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project.
However, corruption allegations over the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project have dented the image of the state government. A controversy over alleged engineering lapses in the Rs 1 lakh crore Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project on the Godavari River triggered an electoral slugfest in poll-bound Telangana with the Congress and the BJP accusing the state government of corruption.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had flown down to Ambatipalli village, where six piers of the project had partially sunk into the ground on October 21, forcing the authorities to empty the reservoir and ban traffic on the road constructed over the barrage.
Rahul Gandhi, along with Telangana state unit chief A Revanth Reddy and other senior leaders, had visited the project site.
“Cracks have developed in multiple pillars because of shoddy construction with reports indicating that the pillars are sinking,” Gandhi said, hitting out at Chief Minister KCR. “Rs 1 lakh crore was looted from the people of Telangana. Nobody here benefitted from the project. Our party workers are right in their argument that the project has turned out to be an ATM for KCR and his family,” he added.
While BRS leaders have largely remained tight-lipped over the controversy, party working president and Telangana minister K T Rama Rao took a dig at Gandhi, saying he is not a leader but just a “reader”.
“Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are themselves facing a probe in the National Herald case. So, they should not come here to lecture us on corruption,” he added.
The BJP has just one seat in the assembly and has been campaigning aggressively for the past three months with the top leadership including PM Modi, Amit Shah and other cabinet ministers campaigning for the party.