BackTough battle for BJP in Telegu states
The prospects in Andhra Pradesh seem bleak as the Centre is being blamed for the state not being accorded the special category statusIn the Telangana assembly polls last year, the BJP could retain only one of the five seats it had won in 2014
PremiumHyderabad: With no alliance partners and a lack of leadership in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces a tough challenge in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections (and assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh) in both the Telugu states. From winning just one assembly seat in the 2018 Telangana assembly polls, the prospects in Andhra Pradesh also seem bleak as the Centre is being blamed from all corners for the state not being accorded the special category status (SCS).
In the 2014 assembly and Lok Sabha elections (in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh), the BJP managed to win five MLA and one Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana, and four MLAs and two parliamentary constituencies in Andhra Pradesh. However, those electoral victories were the result of a pre-poll alliance with the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in both states, which broke in March last year.
Even for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Telangana (17), it is banking on big names from a weak Congress who are looking to quit the grand old party since last year’s elections (eight MLAs out of 19 have defected to the TRS), according to BJP leaders.
In the Telangana assembly polls last year (which were scheduled to be held along with the Lok Sabha elections, but were advanced), the BJP could retain only one of the five seats it had won in 2014. It clearly showed that it did not have much strength on its own. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) led by chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao swept the polls by winning 88 of the 119 seats.
“Former state minister D.K. Aruna just joined us yesterday and we are planning to get some more Congress leaders into our fold, who will contest the upcoming elections. We are looking at five or six seats such as Secunderabad and Malkajgiri where we will put up a tough fight," said a BJP functionary from Telangana who did not want to be quoted.
Another BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh, who also did not want to be quoted, acknowledged that the party was not likely to win any of the 175 assembly or 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state “Since we have split from the TDP, it might help us in increasing our vote share this time," he mentioned and added that the BJP was unlikely to have an alliance.
“The BJP’s central leadership is certainly looking at a map where it can win new seats, but it is not serious about Telangana or Andhra Pradesh. Even after the previous Telangana polls, it has not sacked any of its leaders. The approach is to win where it can win or to make the Congress lose otherwise. If Congress and the TDP (which have joined the anti-BJP coalition on a national level) do not win many seats, then effectively means those go to the NDA," according to political analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy.
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