Munugode bypoll a precursor, battle between BRS and BJP set to intensify in 2023

B L Santhosh, whom the BRS accused of being behind the plot. Subsequently, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI, both central agencies, conducted raids and searches on BRS ministers and leaders. More recently, in a setback for the CM and his party, the Telangana High Court transferred the probe from the state-mandated SIT to the CBI.

Amidst this, the CM’s daughter and MLC K Kavitha finds herself embroiled in the case relating to irregularities in the now-repealed Delhi liquor scam case. Her name has also figured in the ED chargesheet filed on the matter in a New Delhi court.

The prelude to the aggressive contest ahead was the Munugode bypoll in November. Both parties held a high octane campaign, but the BRS managed to scrape through by about 10,000 votes.

After the election, the BJP went back to the drawing board. However, despite the win, KCR called for a thorough review of the government’s welfare policies and their implementation. The CM asked his ministers and MLAs to go back to their respective constituencies and “work hard for the next few months” in the run-up to the polls. He asked them to “not come to Hyderabad unless for urgent work”. The slim winning margin was a forewarning that the BJP had arrived in the state and would pull out all the stops going forward.

The BRS also chalked out an action plan to spotlight schemes such as Rythu Bandhu and Dalit Bandhu to increase awareness of its welfare policies ahead of the polls.

“In Munugode, it is the goodwill that BRS got through the welfare schemes which ensured our win. The CM said that MLAs and ministers should ensure the schemes are implemented properly. That is the advantage we will have over our rivals,’’ senior minister C Malla Reddy said.

The BRS has also made it clear that its plan to go national was to counter the BJP in 2024. It is reportedly aiming to contest in neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The BJP, meanwhile, has turned its attention to Telangana by deploying its robust party machinery. Party president J P Nadda previously said the BJP’s aim was to dislodge the KCR government and come to power in 2023. State BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar is midway through his padayatra that the party claims is “very successful”. Kumar is also expected to be the party’s face in the elections.

The BJP won only one seat in the December 2018 Assembly elections but subsequently wrested two seats from the BRS in by-polls. Going ahead, the BJP will reportedly implement a refined version of its campaign in Munugode and also bring in a team associated with the Uttar Pradesh elections to Telangana.

The Congress, which has been relegated to the third position, is not likely to make any impact next year due to its simmering internal conflicts. The war between Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief A Revanth Reddy faction and senior Congress leaders is out in the open, warranting mediation from party general secretary Digvijaya Singh.

The hope of the state Congress leaders that the goodwill created by party leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra would benefit them seems to be clouded by the tussle within.