There is still more than two years for Assembly elections in Telangana but the series of yatras, rallies and meetings by the political parties have created a poll-like atmosphere in the state. A series of developments and hectic activity by all major political players has increased the political temperature in the state, where elections are due towards the end of 2023. Opposition parties are vying with each other in targeting Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for its failures even as Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao himself is leading the counter-attack from the ruling party by rolling out a slew of schemes.
With the bye-election to the Huzurabad Assembly seat likely to be held soon, both the ruling and opposition parties are going all out to woo the voters. By announcing 'Dalita Bandhu' and an insurance scheme for weavers and by luring some top leaders of the Congress, BJP and TDP into its camp, the TRS is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a victory in Huzurabad.
The bye-election has become a battle of prestige for the TRS as Eatala Rajender, who was dropped from the state Cabinet in May following allegations of land grabbing, will be contesting as the BJP candidate. As Rajender has been winning the seat since 2009, the BJP is hoping to ride on his popularity in the constituency to deal a blow to the TRS ahead of the next Assembly polls. The recent elevation of G Kishan Reddy as an independent minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet has boosted the morale of the party, which had set alarm bells ringing in the TRS camp by wresting the Dubbak Assembly seat and by putting up an impressive performance in the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) last year.
While returning to his home state after his elevation, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Kishan Reddy mounted a scathing attack on TRS by undertaking a Jana Ashirwada Yatra from August 19. He slammed KCR and his family, for what he called massive corruption and for pushing the state into a debt trap. Kishan Reddy's three-day yatra covered 305 kilometres across eight Parliament segments and 17 Assembly constituencies including Huzurabad.
The BJP is looking to mount further pressure on the ruling party as its state chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar will be launching a 'Praja Sangrama Yatra' from August 24. "We need to free Telangana Talli (mother Telangana) from this corrupt family regime which is not at all concerned with people's issues. We have to take the failures of the government to the people at every booth level and understand the people's concerns which would help during our manifesto preparation," he said.
The success of Sanjay's yatra will be crucial for the party to bounce back after receiving a jolt in the recent bye-election in Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly constituency and the Legislative Council polls from the graduates' constituencies. The party lost the lone Legislative Council seat it was holding and had a disastrous performance in Nagarjuna Sagar, where its candidate forfeited the deposit.
A rejuvenated Congress party has also stepped up its activities. With A Revanth Reddy taking over as the president of the party's state unit, it has become aggressive in taking up various issues and targeting the TRS government over what it called its unfulfilled promises and failures. During the last few days, Revanth Reddy led two major public meetings as part of its Dalita Girijana Atma Gaurava Dandora (Movement for SC/ST self-respect). Through this statewide campaign, the party is trying to woo Dalits and tribals by highlighting how the TRS government neglected them during the last seven years.
The Congress is upbeat over the huge public response it received at its meetings at Indravelli in Adilabad district and at Raviryala on the outskirts of Hyderabad. It is now planning to organise a third public meeting in Gajwel, the constituency represented by KCR. The Congress, like the BJP, is also targeting KCR for announcing 'Dalita Bandhu' only to garner the votes of Dalits in the Huzurabad bye-poll. "After the bye-election, KCR will again forget Dalits. Why is he not implementing Dalit Bandhu across the state, why only in Huzurabad," asked Revanth Reddy.
Buoyed by the huge public response to its meetings, the state Congress leadership has decided to invite party leader Rahul Gandhi to a series of public meetings in the run up to the 2023 Assembly elections. Rahul Gandhi is likely to address a public meeting in Warangal next month as part of Dalita Girijana Atma Gaurava Dandora.
Claiming that the political situation in the state is turning in favour of the Congress, Revanth Reddy said the party is certain to win at least 72 of the 119 constituencies in the elections to the Assembly whenever they are held.
The newly formed YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) led by YS Sharmila has also launched its activities, adding to the political buzz in the state. The sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is undertaking a fast every week over the issue of unemployment. After calling on the families of unemployed people who committed suicide, she sits on a day-long fast every Tuesday. She is demanding that the government fulfil its promise of filling all vacancies in various departments and providing jobs to all.
Three days ago she also staged a protest in Mulugu district over the issue of podu lands or the lands tilled by tribals. She accused KCR of cheating tribals by not fulfilling his earlier promise to resolve the podu lands issue. She assured her party's support to tribals, demanding that the government give them ownership rights of podu lands.
Amid the stepped up activity by the opposition parties, Chief Minister KCR visited Huzurabad constituency on August 16, and launched his ambitious scheme 'Dalita Bandhu' and addressed a huge public meeting. The scheme was launched on a pilot basis in Huzurabad and he promised that all Dalit families in the state will receive benefits under the scheme. Every Dalit family will get a Rs 10 lakh grant under the scheme to start a business of its choice, he said. Hitting back at his political rivals, KCR asked why their governments in the states or at the Union government never thought of designing a scheme to empower Dalits.
The politics over Dalits in the state took an interesting turn this month when former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Kumar, who held the rank of Additional Director General of Police, took voluntary retirement last month. The officer urged Dalits to become rulers and not slaves. He joined the BSP at a massive public meeting at Nalgonda on August 8. On Dalita Bandhu, he said that the scheme was a constitutional right and not anybody's charity.