HYDERABAD: Aiming at consolidating BC votes while countering the narratives of BJP and BRS on Karnataka Assembly election results, Telangana Congress is planning to felicitate Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar at a public meeting with BC organisations. Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar hail from the BC community. The party wants to showcase the importance it has been according to BCs with the public felicitation.
A reliable source in the party said that the felicitation of the two leaders would enable the Congress to carry forward the momentum that the Karnataka Assembly elections generated. He said that the result in Karnataka has boosted the morale of the cadre and that conducting political meetings will create an impact among the commoners and undecided voters in the State.
The source said that the meeting will also blunt the arguments being put forth by the BRS and BJP that the Karnataka Assembly results will not have an impact on the elections in Telangana. For the public meeting, the Telangana Congress plans to mobilise people from every nook and corner of the state. Top Congress leaders opine that the meeting would also counter the narrative that the saffron party has been trying to build that it is giving coveted posts to BC leaders.
Incidentally, it was during the Karnataka election campaign that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi stressed the necessity of a nationwide OBC census, which was possibly one of the factors that prompted OBC voters to back the party.