The opposition Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Telangana are hoping to make the most of the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) releasing its candidate list early for the Assembly elections that are slated to take place in December. Leaders from both opposition parties said that BRS supremo K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) releasing his candidate list so much in advance gives them ample time to carefully choose the right people for each constituency.
KCR had on Monday, August 21 released the names of 114 candidates for 115 seats with just 9 changes. The list has also surprised many, given that the BRS chief chose to declare it this early in spite of expected anti-incumbency for MLAs. The party has been in power for two terms now, since the formation of the state of Telangana in 2014. While the Congress is still considered to be the main opposition, political observers are also keenly watching to see if the BJP can make major gains as it managed to win four out of 17 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“KCR is scared that he will face rebellion from within the BRS if he changes candidates, even though they are facing high anti-incumbency. He has told his party people and candidates to do whatever they can do to win. We have a lot of time now and this will work to our advantage. We will slowly release our candidate lists in the coming days,” Syed Nizamuddin, a spokesperson for the Telangana Congress, told TNM.
Similarly, a BJP leader from Hyderabad said that the BRS was scared of losing the elections and that KCR had “no other options” in spite of expected anti-incumbency.
A day after the candidate list was announced, sitting BRS MLA Rekha Naik from the Khanapur ST constituency reportedly applied for a Congress ticket even before she joined the party. Her husband, Shyam Naik, had earlier joined the grand old party. Rekha was expecting a ticket, but the BRS has instead nominated Bhukya Johnson Rathod Naik from Khanapur.
KCR himself will contest from two constituencies – Gajwel (sitting) and Kamareddy. Sitting MLAs were denied tickets in nine constituencies, including Kamareddy.
The BRS currently has 104 MLAs in the 119-member state Assembly. BRS leaders said that while a few names may change closer to the polls, there will not be any major changes otherwise.
“We should go by KCR’s statements on this. Earlier itself he had said that all sitting MLAs will get tickets. The BRS is trying to show that the public has confidence in KCR’s regime, which was also why he went for early elections in 2018. Similarly, what is Modi talking about in his public meetings? He has spoken of pro-incumbency votes, or the public’s confidence in him. The same thing is happening here,” said analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy.
In the 2018 Assembly elections, the BRS won 88 seats. The Congress and Telugu Desam Party formed an alliance, but managed to win only 19 and 2 seats respectively. The BJP won just one seat, while the All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Mjuslimeen managed to retain all of its seven seats in Hyderabad. However, a year later, in the 2019 general elections, the BJP and Congress surprised many by winning 4 and 3 seats respectively, while the BRS won just 9 seats out of the total 17.