Telangana seems ready for a change of power. The Congress is ahead with 65 seats, while the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is lagging behind with 39 seats, as shown by trends as of 1:30 pm on Sunday (December 3). The counting of votes is underway for the 119 seats voted on November 30.
As per Election Commission of India (ECI) trends, the Congress is likely to win only Telangana, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leading in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and even Chhattisgarh. Anticipating victory in the southern state, the Grand Old Party sent Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and 10 other leaders to Hyderabad to keep the flock together, sources said. India today.
What do the trends suggest? If Congress wins Telangana, what could have gone wrong for BRS? Let’s understand.
Telangana Assembly Election Results 2023
The Congress has crossed the 60 majority mark in Telangana and is leading with 39.71 per cent votes against BRS’s 37.84 per cent, according to the 1:30 p.m. results.
BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), who was eyeing a third term in the state, may lose the state this time. The incumbent Telangana chief minister has an advantage in the Gajwel seat with a margin of over 9,000 votes against BJP’s Eatala Rajender.
In Kamareddy constituency, Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy, who could claim the CM seat if his party comes to power, is ahead of KCR by a margin of over 2,000 votes.
The BJP is leading in eight constituencies, while the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) currently has an advantage in six seats.
In the 2018 assembly elections, the BRS, then known as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), had once again come to power by securing 88 seats, the Congress was second with 21 seats while the BJP got only 1 seat. ‘A.
These trends confirm exit poll predictions for the state, which predicted that the Grand Old Party would wrest power from BRS.
What went wrong for BRS?
There are many factors that can dash KCR’s dreams of a hat-trick in Telangana. The BRS supreme leader has been ruling the state since its separation from Andhra Pradesh in 2014. His party, which was at the forefront of the statehood movement, relied on social measures and community initiatives. development to return to power.
However, opposition to KCR appears to have hurt his chances. KCR’s son and BRS leader KT Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR, had earlier admitted there was anti-incumbency sentiment, but added there was “a bigger pro-incumbency” .
To counter any disapproval, the KCR government announced many schemes such as Dalit Bandhu for the backward classes, Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima for farmers and a double room housing scheme for the poor.
According to ThreadBRS has, however, been criticized over some of these social programs, amid allegations that the government has left out large numbers of people eligible for these initiatives.
Unemployment in the state was also a poll topic. While Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao claimed that job creation and GDP growth in the state were the highest in the country, the issue of unemployment was raised by both the rival Congress and the BJP. Paper leaks during recruitment exams have further angered the unemployed youth of the state against the government.
Ajay Gudavarthy, associate professor at the Center for Policy Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), wrote for Thread that “problems of poor governance and loss of leadership” marked KCR’s second term which began in 2018. He also highlighted the Telangana government’s “negligence” towards higher education, with KCR being “upset by the fact that young people are part of numerous social mobilizations” as it stands.
According to NDTV, it also feels like with KCR and KTR at the helm, there is virtually no room for dissent within the BRS. Allegations of corruption leveled against BRS MPs in their constituencies could also have impacted the party’s prospects.
A resurgent Congress
Riding the wave of a massive victory in neighboring Karnataka in May, Congress leaders and cadres went into the Telangana elections with a new sense of vigor.
The party announced its six “guarantees” focused on women, minorities, farmers and the marginalized well before September. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi reportedly promised that these six guarantees would be approved in the first Cabinet meeting if his party wins Telangana.
The Congress also released a speech during its campaign stating a tacit understanding between the BRS and the BJP. According to Threadthis could have given Congress a boost among Muslim and Christian minority voters.
“They also focused on the alleged ‘arrogance’ of KCR and his MLAs – and the alleged ‘arrogance’ of the Andhra Pradesh leaders is something that moved the people of Telangana during the movement for the creation of a State”, R Pridhvi Raj, State Political Analyst. , said The Quint.
#WATCH | #TelanganaElection2023 | Congress president Revanth Reddy is holding a roadshow in Hyderabad as the party continues its comfortable lead in the state. pic.twitter.com/Kpzj5hxe1k
-ANI (@ANI) December 3, 2023
The Congress focused its campaign around two axes: maarpu (change), and presenting itself as Telangana Ishchina party (the party that granted statehood), noted Thread. Telangana was granted statehood during the rule of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Center in 2014.
The BJP replacing Bandi Sanjay Kumar as Telangana unit chief in July this year with Kishan Reddy would have led to its decline in the state. This benefited the Congress which managed to project itself as the only alternative to the BRS, according to Thread.
It appears that Congress’s strategy gave it another Southern state. As Telangana Congress vice-president Kiran Kumar Chalama said PTI earlier today: “We expected victory, we were very confident of winning, but now it feels like a wave.”
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