HYDERABAD : The Rs 2 lakh crop loan waiver appears to be a political game-changer in favour of the Congress.
The Congress leaders are in an upbeat mood as the crop loan waiver, which is expected to win the hearts of the farmers, would hold the party in the ensuing local body elections.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, the party leaders feel, has kept his word on the implementation of crop loan waiver scheme, which had enhanced his credibility further.
While ministers, MLAs, MLCs, and constituency-level leaders are taking part in celebrations over loan waiver, the BRS leaders seem to be flustered by the prospect of the farmers turning to Revanth and the Congress.
As the local body polls are likely between September and December this year, the Congress leaders at the village level hope that the waiver of crop loans might help them win the elections easily.
They believe that the waiver would lay a strong foundation for the party to develop further and emerge as an invincible force. This is because the farmers are a very large constituency that could make or mar a government.
Worry for BRS
Meanwhile, the BRS appears to have been alarmed at the turn of events as the party, till now, believed that Revanth would not be able to keep his word of waiving crop loans up to Rs 2 lakh at one go.
As the tide is slowly turning in favour of the Congress, the BRS cadre are exerting pressure on the MLAs and other leaders to switch loyalty to the grand old party or they will be left alone. The significance of the Congress’ success in fulfilling its promise of crop loan waiver is not lost on the BRS MLAs who seem to be taking a hard look at whether they should continue in the pink party or switch sides.
Taunting expected
In the BRS camp, an interesting discussion is going on about whether former minister T Harish Rao would keep his word and resign as he had stated that he would if Congress implements the crop loan waiver. For one thing, the BRS cadre feels that Revanth would keep taunting the pink party leader with snide remarks if Harish Rao goes back on his word, which might harm the prospects of the party.
The immediate problem before the BRS leadership is how to prevent the Congress government from benefiting politically from the farm loan waiver. If Revanth becomes much stronger than what he is now, which is likely, the BRS would have to watch out, as further erosion in its base might occur.