BRS faces uphill task in 9 seats it secured comfortably in 2019
HYDERABAD: The BRS, which won nine Lok Sabha segments with a massive majority in the 2019 elections, is facing a daunting task to retain those seats this time. This is being attributed to the pink party losing power in the state after suffering a debacle in the Assembly elections and its MPs and key leaders shifting their loyalties to the Congress and the BJP.
These developments have demoralised several leaders and left the candidates in the upcoming electoral fray in doubt about their ability to pull through the difficult situation.
BRS candidate Kotha Prabhakar Reddy won the Medak seat with a staggering 3.15 lakh votes majority in the last elections. He polled 5.96 lakh votes, leaving his closest Congress rival far behind with 2.79 lakh votes. The BJP candidate had to contend with 2.1 lakh votes. Prabhakar Reddy contested in the last Assembly elections and got elected as MLA from Dubbaka which falls in the Medak parliament constituency.
Similarly in Warangal, Pasunuri Dayakar left his Congress rival far behind by winning the seat with a margin of 3.5 lakh votes. He bagged 6.12 lakh votes as against 2.62 lakh by the Congress candidate and 83,777 by the BJP contestant. But the situation is completely different now as Dayakar joined the Congress.
The BRS which has become considerably weaker now is fielding M Sudheer Kumar in the upcoming Lok Sabha election against Kadiyam Kavya of Congress. Kavya left the BRS in dramatic circumstances after she was named the candidate for Warangal seat by party chief K Chandraekhar Rao and joined the ruling Congress along with her father and MLA Kadiyam Srihari.
Congress finds itself in much better position
In Nagarkurnool, P Ramulu who won the seat with 1.89 lakh votes majority switched his loyalty to the BJP. He secured 4.99 lakh votes while his Congress rival secured second position with 3.09 lakh votes. The BJP candidate polled 1.29 lakh votes in the 2019 elections. While the BJP is fielding Ramulu’s son Bharat in the constituency, the BRS chief has picked former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar for the seat. Praveen Kumar left the BSP and joined the BRS recently.
For the BRS, retaining the seat may not be as easy as it was in 2019 because the Congress finds itself in much better position. The BJP too stands equal chance as its candidate Bharat is the son of the sitting MP.
In Peddapalli, BRS candidate Borlakunta Venkatesh Netha won with a 95,000-vote margin and secured a total of 4.41 lakh votes while his Congress rival and BJP candidates got 3.4 lakh and 92,000 votes respectively in the 2019 elections.
In a major setback to the BRS, Venkatesh joined the Congress recently. The pink party is fielding former minister Koppula Eswar in the constituency. But the question is, will the BRS repeat its 2019 show in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections?
In Mahabubnagar, sitting BRS MP Manne Srinivas Reddy won with a margin of 77,829 votes. He secured 4.11 lakh votes as against 3.33 lakh by the BJP candidate and 1.93 lakh by the Congress contestant. It may not be a cakewalk for Srinivas Reddy who is testing his luck again in the upcoming elections as the BRS failed to win a single Assembly seat falling in the Lok Sabha constituency. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy whose Kodangal Assembly seat falls in the parliament constituency is determined to ensure the victory of the Congress.
The situation is no different in Mahabubabad where sitting MP Maloth Kavitha who won with a majority of 1.46 lakh votes, is trying her luck again. Though she secured a total of 4.62 lakh votes as against 3.15 lakh votes by her Congress rival, Kavitha is up against a huge challenge as the BRS did not win a single Assembly seat falling in her Lok Sabha segment.
Nama Nageswar Rao who was elected for second term in 2019 secured 5.67 lakhs votes and won with a margin of 1.68 lakh votes against the Congress. The grand old party candidate got 3.99 lakh votes and BJP only 20,488 votes.
But the sitting BRS MP faces huge challenge as the pink party won only one Assembly seat in the recent elections. In another blow to the party, the lone BRS MLA joined the Congress recently.
With the BRS finding itself on a sticky wicket, the party leaders are waiting with bated breath to know as to how party supremo and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is going to turn around the fortunes of the pink party in the crucial LS polls.