2023 assembly polls: Challenges & woes of major political parties

Well, the state of Telangana has entered into an election year. Though the polls are scheduled in December, the ruling party president and chief minister Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao has dropped enough hints of possible ‘advancing’ of polls to the state assembly. Whether KCR wishes to go with the neighboring Karnataka elections, which are due in April/May, or not, will be known only in the next couple of weeks as his government needs to seek the Home Ministry’s nod before the Election Commission. Many feel, KCR may as well opt to go with Karnataka in a bid to scrape through the challenge to return to power. Otherwise, his government’s problems are bound to multiply, with an ever-increasing burden on the state’s treasury over the implementation of thousands of crores worth welfare schemes, which the government has already grounded. That apart, even the growing anti-incumbency factor could upset his applecart. Added to that is counseling need for his traditional electorate from the ‘regional sentiment’ mode to ‘national’, which is the toughest task on hand for KCR, and his new Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS). As far as finances are concerned, the state exchequer has already dried up with the outstanding internal and external debt climbing a little over Rs 4,000 lakh crore. If one has to believe news reports, the government employees’ arrears are pending for the past few months. According to some reports and projections the state revenues are likely to shoot up by Rs 1 lakh crore by November. Still, that may prove to be a pittance to meet the welfare schemes’ total amount. Meanwhile, all is not well in the ruling party as many appear to be airing their views openly over their leader’s unilateral decision to convert a regional party into a national, which to many seems to be a decision lacking in foresight. Incidentally, even the recent High Court handing over the four MLAs’ poaching case to the CBI proves as a major setback to BRS. While the jury is still out in the matter, it is widely believed that the poachgate episode is a figment of KCR’s imagination carried out by a “loyal” set of legislators and a pliant police force. However, the CBI probe will reveal the truth of the entire matter. Even, if both the Communist parties – the CPI and the CPM join hands with KCR’s BRS, the ruling party’s woes continue to multiply with no gains whatsoever, in sight.On the other hand, the aggressive BJP looks more than confident. This was evident from the party, which under its ‘Mission South’ agenda has already put its cadres in election mode. The party seems to have formed booth-level committees as well as various poll committees to work in tandem, while the party’s high command has put its Telangana state in charge, Tarun Chugh is already executing the tasks given to him. Even the party’s national President JP Nadda and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is considered the main poll strategist, are frequently visiting the state to boost the morale of the party cadres. The state party chief and MP from Karimnagar Bandi Sanjay and the Union Minister for Tourism & Culture, G Kishen Reddy, are constantly holding meetings to keep their party cadres alive and kicking. The party’s latest internal survey reportedly shows a clear edge to them and has started boasting of winning not less than 90 out of 119 assembly seats. While this may be an exaggerated figure, their confidence will help boost the morale of the cadre. Party sources claim that although their targeting 90 seats, they would feel happy even if they end up with around 60-65 seats. The BJP’s confidence stems from possible support from ‘discarded’ parties like the TDP and Jana Sena. Whether these two parties also field their candidates in the electoral fray or just extend support to the BJP and become part of the BJP’s star campaigners, is to be seen. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls the BJP won a record number of four assembly seats. This was followed by winning two assembly by-polls and improving its numerical strength phenomenally in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. The Munugodu by-poll proved as a major gain as the party could breach 30 percent vote share, which has never been witnessed till now. Thus far, the BJP’s gains appear to weigh down its woes, if any.Ironically, another major political party, the Congress is in total disarray. It is bogged down with internal bickering and with the change of TPCC leadership yet again, before polls, may further weaken the party. As the day passes, the Congress is also becoming a political pariah among parties as unlike in the past, no party seems interested to join hands with the decaying Congress. A party that once seemed invincible in undivided Andhra Pradesh is today a ghost of its former self.On Nov. 30, the UNGA also adopted a resolution to mark Nakba Day, which commemorates the forced expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their lands in 1948.