Telangana Assembly elections: BJP does not exist in state, claim TRS and Congress

Assembly elections for 119 seats in Telangana are about to take place on December 7 and all the contesting parties have started pulling each-others legs. In a latest development, the ruling-Telangana Rashtra Samithi and opposition Congress claim the Bharatiya Janata Party has no possibility in the poll-bound state. However, BJP claims that it will emerge as a kingmaker.

TRS leader and a key minister in the caretaker government KT Rama Rao — also the son of party chief K Chandrasekhar Rao — is of the view that there will be a straight fight between TRS and Congress and BJP does not comes into the picture. He said, as quoted by the Indian Express, “The Congress is our main rival. The BJP does not exist in Telangana.” Adding more he claimed that BJP candidates would forfeit their deposits in more than 100 seats (of the 119 in the state) and ‘not even one MLA in the just-dissolved House will return’.

TRS floor leader in the Lok Sabha A P Jithender Reddy said, “There is no in-between. Neither the BJP nor the smaller parties can create confidence among the people that they can form the government. The fight is between the Congress-led alliance and the TRS.”

Echoing similar views, even the Congress claim that BJP would not be able to secure its five seats. All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Telangana affairs R C Khuntia told PTI, “They (BJP) had five seats (in the dissolved Assembly). They may get one or two this time.”

However, BJP has a different opinion on this. Party’s national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao told PTI, “We are being seen as an underdog. We are being rated far below our potential. We certainly think the BJP will produce a very surprising and positive result in Telangana”, further adding, “What we are staring at is in all probability a hung kind of an Assembly and the BJP emerging as a decisive play.”

ALSO READ: Telangana elections: BJP proposes Yoga in schools, free trips to religious places