Telangana polls 2023: BRS vs Congress spar over 'Karnataka model'

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Congress have adopted diametrically opposite campaign strategies to sway voters in their favour ahead of the Telangana Assembly elections. While the BRS is highlighting the troubles of Congress-ruled Karnataka to make a case against the party, the Congress has chosen to counter it with a positive narrative and has been asserting that it will form government on December 9, 2023 on the strength of its six guarantees, borrowed from the Congress’ experiment in Karnataka.

Think of Karnataka before voting: KCR warns voters

The BRS seems to be hell-bent on proving that the Karnataka model that propelled the Congress to power is a failure. The Congress, on the other hand, has asserted that the party is drawing its energy from the Karnataka Congress.

The BRS has listed the disastrous consequences the state might suffer if voters commit the ‘mistake’ of voting for the Congress.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and state ministers, T Harish Rao and KT Rama Rao, who are the lead campaigners, are laying more emphasis on the negative fallout of Congress rule in Karnataka to project the Telangana Congress in poor light.

Addressing a public meeting on Monday (October 16) at Jangaon and Bhongir, KCR cautioned voters to think twice before deciding to cast their vote. “A vote for Congress is a death knell for farmers,” the chief minister warned.

He also referred to the ongoing power crisis in Karnataka under the Congress regime to persuade voters to be vigilant while voting.

A word of caution for farmers

“The farmers in Karnataka are facing power cuts. They are suffering due to an erratic power supply. So, it is time you exercise your franchise wisely. Vote is a powerful weapon. Use it with conscience,” he said.

Advising voters not to get swayed by the propaganda peddled by brothers-in-law, uncles, or other relatives to vote for the Congress, KCR said a vote in favour of the party would have disastrous consequences.

“Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy and Congress Legislature Party leader (Mallu) Bhatti have already said the Dharani land registration app would be scrapped. They want to revive the system of village revenue officers. They want to reintroduce the tenant farmer system. I urge you not to pave the path for anarchy by committing a mistake,” the chief minister said.

The Dharani app is an integrated land records management system introduced by the state Revenue Department which serves as a one-stop platform for all land-related services including land registration and administration service.

He urged the public to sincerely weigh if the Congress’ six guarantees were in the best interest of the state.

Frightening picture of Karnataka

Like KCR, the lead campaigners of the BRS, state Finance Minister T Harish Rao, and IT Minister KT Rama Rao are also taking potshots at the Karnataka Congress model to dissuade people from voting for the Congress.

Addressing a public meeting in Ibrahimpatnam near Hyderabad a few days ago, Harish Rao urged the people not to vote for Congress if free power were to continue in the state. Referring to the power cuts imposed in Karnataka, he sought to paint a frightening picture of the southern state. “In Karnataka, where the Congress is in power, power is available for just eight hours a day and a power holiday is declared for the Industrial sector,” he said, asking people if they wanted such a government in Telangana.

Rama Rao, who is also KCR’s son, said the Congress government in Karnataka also has had its fair share of scams. “The Congress government in Karnataka has levied an election tax on the builders only to fund Telangana elections. The grand old party is living up to its name Scamgress,” he said.

Congress counters BRS narrative with a confident slogan

On the other hand, the lone campaigner of the Congress, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy is aggressively countering the BRS’s narrative with his one-line campaign that Congress is forming the government on December 9.

Even though it sounds like a silly avowal, Reddy is using the date (December 9) to create a counter-narrative to KCR’s lucky number six. The chief minister released the BRS manifesto and launched the BRS election campaign on October 15 whose sum is six. Revanth has chosen the date 9 because of its relevance for Congress and Telangana.

Revanth has been asking the public to attend the Congress’s swearing-in ceremony at Lal Bahadur Stadium at 10:30 am on December 9.

“Don’t wait for the invite. It's an open invitation. Do come to the stadium in large numbers from 119 constituencies. Because you have to witness the ceremony of affixing the first signature on the file related to the implementation of six poll assurances,” Revanth said launching the election campaign in Vikarabad on Monday (October 16).

The date is not without significance. Incidentally, it is not only the birthday of Sonia Gandhi who is being projected as the giver of Telangana but also the day in 2009 when the first statement on the formation of Telangana was made by then home minister P Chidambaram.

Revanth is emphasising that the implementation of the six guarantees will herald the promised ‘Indiramma Rajyam’. Recalling that the free-power scheme and health insurance scheme ‘Arogyasri’ were innovations of the Congress government headed by YS Rajasekhar Reddy in 2004, Revanth said the six guarantees were the continuation of the YSR tradition.