hyderabad
Crossovers from one political party to another, particularly among the three leading parties in Telangana – Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Indian National Congress (INC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — are set to gain momentum as the Election Commission takes to pre-schedule announcement formalities for the coming Assembly elections.
The Congress leadership, which has been on a high following the visit of its national bigwigs, announcement of the party’s six guarantees in Telangana, and claims of its soaring popularity graph, has suffered setbacks-of sorts with the desertion of some party leaders, including two district presidents. The State leadership dropped ample hints that parachute leaders are set to get priority over them in the allotment of tickets on the grounds of “winnability”.
Explaining the party position in desertions, a senior BRS leader says, “We are prepared for eventualities including crossover of some leaders from the day our leadership announced candidates for 115 out of 119 Assembly seats in the State. The threat of those who are denied a ticket, particularly if they are sitting MLAs, deserting party always looms large before any election. Some of those who were left have already moved out and a few more may be sitting on the fence.”
Apart from getting mood surveys done with the third parties at regular intervals, the party leadership is also focusing on pacifying those who could not be accommodated in the Assembly contestants list with the assurances of “good” opportunities in the months to come. At the same time, the leadership is also keeping a close eye on the developments in the rival parties as the time for announcement of tickets draws closer, adds the leader considered close to BRS bigwigs.
The ruling party is making all efforts to attract leaders in disappointment in the rival camps by getting in touch with them with assurance of “other opportunities” since the possibilities of fielding them for Assembly elections is remote in the eleventh hour.
BRS sources indicate that there would be surprises in the coming days as some key leaders of rivals parties are expected to come into the BRS fold. The party is also working overtime to finalise a manifesto that would be befitting to the ones partly announced by the rival parties. “Telangana’s interests will be the key focus of BRS campaigning again, by explaining and exposing the dubious track record of the two rival parties which have time and again neglected them,” sources said.
Published - October 06, 2023 06:39 pm IST
