KCR Shifts Focus To T-Congress!

The landslide victory of Congress in neighbouring Karnataka had made BRS boss and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to shift his focus to the Congress from BJP. So far, KCR had been considering BJP as the BRS’ main rival in the state but the unprecedented win of the Congress has raised the anxiety of the party cadre in Telangana.

Though the BJP’s loss has provided some relief and cheer to the BRS, the increased vote share polled by the Congress is sending jitters down the spine of the party.

Significantly, the Congress won more than 50% of the seats in the Telangana-Karnataka region and KCR’s party is fearing the ripple effect in Telangana.

The Congress won 24 seats of the total 41 seats in the Telangana-Karnataka region. Though the BRS leaders claim that there would be no effect of the Congress win in Karnataka, there is buzz in political circles that the senior leaders of the party had already begun analyzing the reasons behind the sudden shift in the Congress’ strength.

The BRS predicted a hung Assembly in Karnataka and that KCR’s friend and JD(S) chief Kumaraswamy would be the kingmaker. However, KCR’s calculations went wrong and the party men are trying to understand if AICC leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra had an impact or if the people are favouring the Congress vexed with the BJP’s corruption?

At a time when the BRS seemed to be confident of a hat-trick in the state, the Congress victory has come as a jolt from the blue. The BRS leaders are busy trying to devise strategies to prevent the ripple effect of Congress victory in Telangana.

The Congress and the BJP have been trying to corner the BRS citing leakage of TSPSC question papers, unemployment, purchase of crop, awarding the ORR contract for dirt cheap price to a contractor and many other issues. Further, the opposition parties have been lashing out at the ruling party stating that they have information over KCR fuming at his own party leaders for taking ‘percentage from the Dalit Bandhu’ beneficiaries.

In Karnataka, the Congress benefited by focusing mainly on the BJP’s corruption and KCR fears the Congress in Telangana would also try to highlight his statements during the review meeting of Dalit Bandhu that can cause him more harm. In the wake of such a situation, KCR is reportedly planning to adopt a strategy to confront the Congress and also attract the party leaders into the BRS fold.