Triangular contests in the offing in Telangana as BRS fights for its survival

A resurgent Congress, determined to repeat its November 2023 Assembly election victory; the regional Bharat Rashtra Samiti, which has recently suffered a series of setbacks and is fighting to revive its fortunes; and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is working to improve its tally in the State to contribute to its nationwide goal of 400 seats — together, they sum up the mood in Telangana ahead of polling for 17 Lok Sabha seats on May 13. Hoping to ride on the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the slogan ‘Ab ki baar, 400 paar’, the BJP’s national leaders are extensively touring Telangana’s rural areas to improve the party’s prospects. The BRS was the clear front-runner in that 2014 election, bagging 11 of the State’s 17 seats, followed by two for the Congress, and one each for the Telugu Desam Party, the BJP, the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen, and the YSR Congress Party. That 2019 general election also saw the BJP emerging as a force to reckon with in Telangana, bagging four seats – Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Secunderabad — and providing a foothold for the party to expand its base in a State where it hitherto had a marginal presence.