The Congress in Telangana has launched a satirical advertisement campaign against the incumbent Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and its top leaders featuring a lookalike of Chief Minister and BRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao, mocking him over unkept promises.
The campaign titled 'Marpu Kavali Congress Ravali' (Change should happen, Congress should come to power), has a series of three advertisements on the lines of a similar campaign that was run in neighbouring Karnataka during the recent Assembly elections. As the campaign was successful in Karnataka, party strategists decided to adopt it in Telangana.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC ) vice-president Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy said they designed the ad campaign to expose the lies and false promises of KCR and his government. Intending to showcase fake promises and lies of KCR in a satirical manner, this campaign also highlights the fact that people will no longer believe their lies, he said.
The series of advertisements, being run on all Telugu channels and digital platforms, mock KCR and the ruling BRS, questioning their unkept promises during the last 10 years. In one of the ads, a lookalike of KCR is seen addressing a public meeting. While he reminds the audience of the welfare schemes being implemented by his government and makes promises, a voice is heard in the background mocking him, evoking laughter.
In another video, a lookalike of the BRS CM is seen appealing to people for votes. A cross-section of people question him on unfulfilled promises like jobs, unemployment allowance, double bed-room houses, and raise issues like the Dharani portal and the Kaleshwaram scam.
A third ad video released as part of the campaign on Wednesday, November 8, features the agrarian issues in the state. A lookalike of KCR is seen giving money to a farmer but the latter questions him over the suicide of 8,000 farmers and reminds him of his unkept promises for farm loan waiver, free fertilisers, and paddy procurement. "You didn't care for us but looted crores of rupees from us," the farmer tells him.
A woman farmer is also seen telling the KCR lookalike that in the name of the Dharani portal, he took away their lands, making them work as labourers in their own fields. Another woman questions why they should vote again for the BRS, and the tire of the 'pink' car (color and poll symbol of BRS) is shown to get deflated. A voice in the background says, “10 years of arrogance should come to an end and 10 years of corruption should be chased away,” while BRS leaders are seen pushing the car.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Telangana, Manikrao Thakare, posted the ad on social media platform X and wrote: "The farmers of Telangana have been exploited by the BRS government, leading to the deaths of more than 8,000 farmers. The BRS government failed to waive off farmers' loans!!! They promised free fertilizers but instead increased the price of fertilizers. People are fed up with 10 years of corruption, arrogance, and incompetence of the BRS. They need to be freed from the clutches of tyranny."
BRS, however, has dismissed the campaign saying this would have no impact on the voters.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao said that a similar campaign was run by the Congress in 2018, but people brought BRS to power for a second consecutive term. Stating that people know the truth, he exuded confidence that they will once again vote for a party that has worked for their welfare and the state's development for the last 10 years.