The month-long election cycle is in its last leg and the parties have turned their focus to Telangana that goes to polls on November 30. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) continue to exchange barbs and discredit the others.
Union Home Minister and top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah on Sunday alleged that the Congress party and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) have a deal to make K Chandrasekhar Rao the Chief Minister of Telangana and Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister of India.
Addressing a rally at Makhtal, Shah equated BRS and Congress, saying if you vote for Congress to remove KCR —as K Chandrasekhar Rao is often called— the party's MLAs would go to BRS.
In the last leg of the month-long election cycle, Telangana goes to polls on November 30. Along with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Mizoram, the counting of votes will take place on December 3. The assembly election results in the five states is expected to set the tone for 2024 general election expected to be held in April-May 2024 in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a third term and INDIA coalition seeks to dislodge him with their combined numbers.
Shah at the rally said that the only way to dislodge KCR from power is to form a BJP government in the state under Modi's leadership. He also reiterated the party's promise to appoint a backward caste chief minister if the party comes to power in the state. He also said the BJP government would provide Scheduled Caste (SC) quota for the Madiga community in the state.
"A deal happened between the Congress party and BRS. Congress will make KCR as chief minister here, KCR will make Rahul Gandhi prime minister. Congress MLA is like Chinese goods which do not have a guarantee and will go to BRS anytime," said Shah, as per PTI.
Even as Shah equated Congress and the BRS, the two parties continue to train guns at each other. Congress on Sunday requested the Election Commission (EC) to restrict BRS from mentioning the disbursement of Rythu Bandhu scheme's amount in the campaign. In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, Congress alleged that BRS leaders are making the EC's approval for the disbursal of aid under the scheme as a "tool to influence" voters as if they are giving it out of their own pockets.
Earlier on November 24, the EC had approved the Telangana government to disburse the amount under the scheme, an investment support to farmers, before November 28. On their part, the BRS had claimed that the Congress party is obstructing the disbursement. The scheme has around 70 lakh beneficiaries this season.