HYDERABAD: The ruling BRS is hopeful of reaping a rich harvest of SC and ST Assembly seats in the next Assembly elections. It expects Dalit Bandhu and the distribution of podu land pattas to the tribals would do the trick.
Of the 119 Assembly constituencies in the State, 19 are reserved for SCs and 12 for STs. In the 2018 elections, TRS (now BRS) won 16 SC and six ST seats with the Congress and the TDP winning the rest. Later, several Congress and TDP SC and ST MLAs switched their loyalties to the Pink party.
Those who were elected from SC and ST constituencies were: Haripriya Naik, Ch Lingaih, Ramulu Naik, Rega Kanta Rao, Athram Sakku (all Congress), Mecha Nageswar Rao and Sandra Venkata Veeraiah (both TDP). All of them later joined the BRS. Now, the ruling party is not only eyeing its SC and ST seats but also those held by the Congress which are Madhira, Mulugu and Bhadrachalam.
Traditionally voters in SC and ST segments support the Congress, but the equations have changed after the division of the State in 2014. The BRS is hoping to sweep all the SC and ST seats this time as people who are beneficiaries of the welfare programmes are grateful to the ruling party.
According to sources in the BRS, the attention has shifted to SC and ST segments in the wake of Congress making a clean sweep of the reserved seats in Karnataka. The BRS is keen on preventing a repeat of what has happened in the neighbouring State.
