Annamalai’s Coimbatore plan and Karnataka Congress’s dissidence woes

Welcome to Powertrip, a newsletter exclusively curated for TNM subscribers by Dhanya Rajendran, Shabbir Ahmed, and Pooja Prasanna. In this issue, we look at Annamalai’s Coimbatore plan, the BJP leader who ignored Modi’s phone call and TDP’s dilemma around a YSRCP rebel..Inside TrackExclusive stories, for your eyes only.Annamalai’s plan for CoimbatoreThe Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat is the big focus in Tamil Nadu. It’s a four-way contest between DMK’s Ganapathy P Rajkumar, AIADMK’s Singai Ramachandran, BJP’s K Annamalai, and NTK’s M Kalamani. Annamalai knows it’s not an easy battle with the DMK putting its machinery behind Ganapathy, and regional strongman SP Velumani supporting Singai Ramachandran. One group that Annamalai’s team plans to target is the youth of Coimbatore. A war room has been set up for Coimbatore and the plan is to set up one war room per Assembly segment – Palladam, Sulur, Kavundampalayam, Coimbatore North, Coimbatore South, and Singanallur.The war room manned by Annamalai’s aide Krishnakumar Murugan has also created 12 different sub-groups and each group has been given the target of roping in 1,000 young people each. While these groups will have full-time and part-time workers, the main task they have been given is to amplify the BJP’s message online. A few members of political strategy firm Varahe that helped the BJP in the Karnataka elections have also reached Coimbatore.The DMK meanwhile says it isn’t worried about the seat as last time the CPI(M) candidate got 46% of the vote share, and this time too the alliance is strong. The DMK looks at AIADMK as its prime opponent in the region and feels the latter has been weakened due to the lack of a good alliance. The only problem for the DMK is the candidate they have chosen. Why Ganapathy is a question that many have been asking. DMK sources say that Ganapathy was the candidate that Senthil Balaji, the strongman from the western belt who is currently in jail, preferred and they did not want to field anyone controversial or too popular and invite trouble. A low-key candidate backed by Senthil Balaji and the alliance would work better, the DMK believed. Will YSRCP rebel find a place in TDP?Will rebel YSRCP Member of Parliament K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju contest this election? The Narasapuram MP definitely has no place in the YSRCP as he rebelled against Jagan Mohan Reddy years ago and even dragged the Andhra Chief Minister to court. So will the businessman-turned-politician be accommodated by the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance? Rama Krishna Raju has given enough indications that he expects to get a seat in the alliance but the BJP – which has been allotted the Narasapuram constituency – has already announced its candidate.A YSRCP source insisted that the TDP alliance will not give a seat to Raju as he is a typical troublemaker who does not follow political leadership. The TDP, however, has a different story to tell. They feel the MP has to be accommodated in some way or it will create dissatisfaction among the Raju community that he belongs to. The other reason is that ignoring him would reinforce rumours that the BJP and YSRCP are still working together and that is why the BJP wants to avoid a Jagan baiter like Raju. A TDP source says they are looking at fielding the MP from the Undi Assembly seat, among other options. Eshwarappa ignores Modi’s callKarnataka BJP leader Eshwarappa has a history of making headlines for the wrong reasons. This time, upset over his son KE Kantesh not being given a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Shivamogga, Eshwarappa has decided to revolt against the party once again by fielding his son as an independent against the sitting MP Raghavendra, who is Yediyurappa’s eldest son. But Eshwarappa has gone too far by ignoring Modi’s call, made with the hope of reconciliation.After this snub, instructions have come to state leaders to not reach out to Eshwarappa to pacify him at any cost. They’ve been told to ignore all his provocations and deny him headlines by reacting to his statements. Infighting forces Congress leaders to stay away from campaignTwo groups of Congress leaders in Kolar and Hassan districts of Karnataka have launched a smear campaign against each other. A stiff competition is on for tickets in these two districts and leaders like MC Sudhakar, the Higher Education Minister, is openly threatening a rebellion against state leaders.The party had planned a campaign called Prajadhwani in Kolar and Hassan but fearing open insult by the fighting leaders, Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar cancelled the campaign. Officially, the Congress has said that they are delaying it ‘indefinitely’..Zero HourA political story of public importance.Banks Want Forged Paper Trails After Taking Money Illegally From Customers For Modi Govt's Flagship Schemes.Despite media exposés and frequent public complaints, banks nationwide continue taking money without authorisation from accounts to enrol customers in low-cost life-insurance and accident-insurance schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. To meet targets set by the union government, bank offices are now withdrawing money from accounts of many customers en masse, in some cases even forging customer consent and asking local offices to camouflage forgeries..PowermovesTop 5 political storiesShrimp feed, cocaine and AP politics: The latest battle between TDP, BJP and YSRCPCongress played smart in shifting Muraleedharan to Thrissur but will it pay off?TN Governor Ravi invites K Ponmudy to take oath after SC rebukes himRenewable energy firm donated Rs 13 crore to BRS before bagging motorsport event in TelanganaHyderabad-based companies were JD(S)’ top donors before 2023 Karnataka polls