HYDERABAD: While Lok Sabha polls are an entirely different ballgame, it is safe to say that all the three major parties in the state — the Congress, BJP and BRS — will utilise the data garnered from the results of the Assembly elections that were announced on Sunday to draw their strategy for the 2024 General Elections likely to be conducted in May 2024.
Naturally, the Congress will be working to improve its 2019 tally of three seats and its sitting MPs — A Revanth Reddy, N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy — who won the recent Assembly elections will now strive to ensure that the party holds on to the Lok Sabha constituencies they represent in Parliament and also bags other seats across the state.
The BJP, which won four Lok Sabha seats in the state, faced a setback in the recent election when all three of its sitting MPs who contested for the Assembly — Bandi Sanjay, Dharmapuri Arvind and Soyam Bapurao — lost. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy did not contest the Assembly election. The results were not up to the expectations of the party which had portrayed itself as the main challenger to the BRS in Telangana. Even the BJP high command is reportedly upset with the results. BJP sources say that the saffron party’s high command plans to focus on the coming General Elections and ensure that the party not only retains the four Lok Sabha seats but also bags more from Telangana.
The strategy the BJP adopts to strengthen itself in Telangana would be closely watched, especially since the state leadership fully depended on Prime Minister Narendra Modi or other top central leaders in the Assembly elections. The state leaders have been demoralised by the Assembly results and this has raised doubts about whether they would campaign aggressively for the 2024 polls.
The BRS, now the main Opposition in the state, won 39 Assembly seats in recent elections. How it approaches the coming General Elections, especially now that it is not in power, and how it counters the BJP will be keenly watched.
In the 2019 General Elections, the BRS won nine seats — Peddapalli, Warangal, Mahabubabad, Khammam, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Zaheerabad, Chevella and Nagarkurnool. Curiously, it lost all the Assembly seats that come under these Lok Sabha constituencies. For example, in the Assembly segments that come under the Peddapalli Lok Sabha constituency, there is no BRS MLA now.
On the other hand, the BRS one Assembly segment each in the Nalgonda and Bhongir LS constituencies, both of which are held by the Congress. The battleground also extends to other LS constituencies, marked by the complexity of BJP and Congress strongholds.
To sum it up, the main challenge for the Congress and BRS will be to demonstrate their strength in the 2024 General Elections, while the BJP will be focused on retaining its seats and trying to add to its kitty.