HYDERABAD: It’s not just anti-incumbency that the BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) candidates are battling -- they are faced with the prospect of crucial votes cast in their favour going to independent candidates, or to candidates from lesser-known parties as has been the case in the past.
Aware of the fact that some voters mistakenly cast their vote for symbols that appear similar to the BRS poll symbol, the ‘car’, the pink party had even approached the election commission, requesting it to freeze symbols like ‘road roller’ and ‘chapati maker’. These symbols have a history of causing damage to BRS candidates, as seen in the last Assembly elections when sitting MLAs lost their chances of re-election due to these symbols.
In fact, some BRS leaders suspect that its main rival, the Congress, is strategically leveraging these symbols to undermine the BRS by backing candidates with ‘road roller’ and ‘chapati maker’ to split the vote.
According to sources, Congress leaders have approached the Yuga Thulasi Party and the Alliance of Democratic Reforms Party, which have been assigned the ‘road roller’ and ‘chapati maker’ symbols, to field candidates in nearly 30 Assembly constituencies.
Sources said that candidates contesting with these symbols in the upcoming elections are spending a considerable amount to secure B-forms, causing anxiety among BRS candidates who worry that the split in the vote may jeopardize their chances of victory.
Meanwhile, a few BRS leaders have reportedly contacted the two parties to ask them not to field candidates in their constituencies.
Earlier, the BRS suffered losses in Nakrekal, Dubbaka (byelection), and Nagarkurnool (Lok Sabha) elections and approached the Election Commission of India and even the Supreme Court to prevent the allocation of such symbols to other parties or independents.
Interestingly, the Yuga Thulasi party, which holds one of these symbols, was founded by K Shiva Kumar, who also established the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) in 2011. However, Shiva Kumar was convinced to hand over the party reins to YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
IN DEMAND
BRS suspects that Congress is backing candidates of the Yuga Thulasi Party and Alliance of Democratic Reforms Party which have been allotted ‘car-like’ symbols