HYDERABAD: In the wake of Telangana being shown the “empty hand” in the Union budget, the BJP MPs and MLAs are likely to face the heat from the ruling Congress as well as the Opposition BRS for their inability to get funds for projects in the state, vis-a-vis Andhra Pradesh.
The BJP, which won eight Lok Sabha seats and secured 35 per cent vote share in the recent Lok Sabha elections, is in an unenviable situation with the Budget remaining silent on Telangana.
Already Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy targeted the BJP leaders for their “incomparable incompetence” in getting funds for the state. At the same time, the BRS too was equally critical of them for their “ineptitude”.
The Congress has decided to corner the BJP in the Assembly and in Lok Sabha for the step-motherly attitude Nirmala Sitharaman had shown towards Telangana, a prospect that appears foreboding for the saffron party.
Weapon to attack saffron party
The very fact that neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has got funds and projects under the Reorganisation Act has come as a weapon for the Congress and BRS to take the BJP head-on at a time when the saffron party is anxious to capture power in the next Assembly elections.
It will have to face its first test in the ensuing local body elections when the MPs begin making promises to develop villages with central funds and the Congress start cornering it.
The BJP is keen to sink its roots deep into the Telangana soil by capturing local bodies as they would form the crucial support base for the party when it fights the Assembly elections. Now that the Budget has proved to be an empty shell for Telangana, the party might find the going tough.
On the other hand, when the Congress government presents its Budget in the Assembly on Thursday, the BJP MLAs are expected to corner the ruling party for its failure to implement all its six guarantees. But in the wake of the Union Budget offering nothing to Telangana, they might find it difficult to pin down the ruling party.
Going forward, Union ministers G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay are likely to face a barrage of pointed questions from the Congress about why the NDA was against Telangana and why they remained mute spectators when the Centre had not honoured the promises made to Telangana in the state bifurcation Act while Andhra Pradesh got substantial benefits.
The BRS is also preparing to target both the BJP and Congress for not rising to the expectations of the people though they got eight Lok Sabha seats each. The injustice done to Telangana in the Budget has given ammo to the BRS to attack both Congress and the BJP.