Three days before Telangana votes in the Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday targeted the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and reiterated that it was the party’s responsibility “to bring Telangana out of the clutches of the BRS”. Modi also reiterated that the BJP had “turned down” the BRS’s offer to join hands.
The prime minister’s consistent attack on Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, and his party illustrates the BJP’s earnest effort to shrug off the Congress’s allegation that the BJP and the BRS have joined hands in the election. There have been allegations of an alleged BRS-BJP deal and central investigating agencies’ delay in proceeding against BRS leaders in the alleged Delhi liquor scam has fuelled the speculation.
The BJP, which has not emerged as a formidable alternative in the southern state so far, has pushed back against the narrative that it reached a tacit understanding with the KCR-led party so that they can mutually benefit each other by keeping the Congress at bay. Sources in the BJP, however, said the scaling up of the offensive on the BRS seems to have shifted votes away from the KCR-led party without hurting the Congress much. “In effect, the aggressive campaign appears to be helping the Congress to win more seats,” said a BJP leader involved with the state election.
With several BRS leaders joining the Congress — the latest is Alampur MLA V M Abraham who made the switch last week — the Mallikarjun Kharge-led party has succeeded in creating an impression that it has pushed the BJP to third place. “The Prime Minister’s barb at KCR and the BRS is expected to push the cadre, which is still enthusiastic about its electioneering, to come out and work for the party in the last two days,” said the BJP functionary.
At the rally on Monday, the PM said, “A BJP government will probe all scams KCR did here. Those who betrayed the poor and youth of Telangana will not be spared.”
In October, Modi said KCR wanted to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in December 2020 after the BJP’s impressive performance in the Hyderabad civic polls, a claim that the Telangana CM denied. The PM repeated the allegation at the rally on Monday. “KCR realised the increasing power of BJP much earlier. For a long time, he was making an effort to strike a friendship with the BJP. Once, when he came to Delhi, KCR met me and made the same request. But the BJP can never work against the wishes of the people of Telangana. Ever since BJP turned down KCR, BRS has been baffled. The party doesn’t lose any opportunity to abuse me. The BRS knows that Modi will never let it anywhere near the BJP. This is Modi’s guarantee,” said the PM.
BJP’s objective
For the BJP, keeping the Congress out of power in another key southern state is important before the Lok Sabha polls, and it suits it to have a strong regional party do the job of containing the primary Opposition party. “The BJP wants to check the Congress’s emergence in any state, especially after Karnataka,” said a BJP leader.
An understanding with regional parties in states where it has failed to increase its electoral footprint is part of the BJP’s strategy. Sources said for the BJP, keen on mustering as many seats for the Lok Sabha, the outcome of the parliamentary polls is more important than the Assembly elections.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First published on: 27-11-2023 at 21:13 IST
