Telangana election: TRS to sow seeds of discontent among grand alliance rebels!
HYDERABAD: While Telangana Rashtra Samithi leaders might claim that the grand alliance - Congress, TDP, CPI and TJS - is not a threat to them, their actions and strategies suggest the opposite. It is learnt that TRS could encourage Independent candidates at several Assembly segments, where differences between alliance partners are likely.
The pink party is banking on its prediction that there will be quite a few candidates in all four alliance parties who will end up disappointed after the seat sharing and allocation is complete. The party will then encourage these candidates to rebel and contest as Independents to divide the grand alliance’s vote banks.
Once the alliance announces its candidates, discontentment is likely to bubble up among leaders who fail to secure tickets.
TRS would most likely take advantage of this situation by adopting a “divide and rule” policy to try defeat the alliance. The party is yet to announce candidates for 12 constituencies and it is probably in a wait-and-watch mode. The prophesied rebellion
Congress, which is clearly the Big Brother in the alliance and in the driver’s seat, will nevertheless have to spare a considerable number of seats to its allies. TRS leadership is confident that there are bound to be scores of dissatisfied Congressmen after the seat sharing is concluded as these leaders will then have to campaign or vouch for a TDP, CPI or TJS candidate.
In any case, there are two to three Congress candidates, and potential future dissidents, at many constituencies. “The strategy is to encourage the rebels, especially in Assembly segments where grand alliance is likely to give a tough fight to TRS. The party might encourage these Congress rebels to contest as Independent candidates and split the Opposition’s votes,” say sources. Besides, TRS is also keenly watching how many seats Congress will spare for its allies. “The seats allotted to those three parties (TDP, CPI, TJS) are sure to be a waste for Congress and TRS is sure to win them,” said a TRS leader.
Party hopping
Over the past few weeks, Telangana has seen numerous cases of leaders switching parties in search of greener pastures. Recently, Nandeshwar Goud left BJP and joined TDP after getting assurances that he would be given the Patancheru Assembly segment, upsetting many TDP leaders there who expected that their loyalty would be rewarded by their party. And, it is not even clear if TDP will even get Patancheru, which could ultimately mean Goud’s party switch was for nothing and force him to contest on his own.
TRS promises life insurance to SCs and STs
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Monday decided that it will add the promise of providing life insurance coverage to SCs and STs in its election manifesto. The scheme will be christened as “Telangana Life Insurance”. Apart from several other sops, the life coverage to SCs and STs too will be included in the special manifesto being drafted by TRS for the welfare of SCs and STs. A committee headed by Kadiyam Srihari held discussions on the special manifesto.