In the face of "simmering anger" against the ruling BRS in Telangana, the BJP will get a comfortable majority to form its first government in the state after the November 30 polls, state BJP chief G Kishan Reddy has said.
There will be no hung assembly and the saffron party will land in the ruling saddle comfortably, Reddy, Union Minister for Tourism, told PTI in an exclusive interview.
Reddy said it is palpable that Telangana people want a change as they have lost faith in both the BRS and Congress, believing that "they are in cahoots."
"There is no question of a hung assembly because there is simmering anger against the BRS government. It will explode like a volcano. People are not coming out because of the fear of police and goons."
"The Bharatiya Janata Party will get an absolute majority. We are working with the intention that the party would get an absolute majority and it will come also," Reddy said.
He further said Telangana people want a change which will not come with the BRS or Congress because even if the grand old party wins, there is a perception that some of its MLAs will join the BRS.
"The change which Telangana people want is possible only with BJP," he said.
However, senior journalist and political analyst S Nagesh Kumar opined that the BJP was a part of a triangular contest in Telangana earlier, but lost its "steam" after the debacle in the Karnataka assembly polls.
"To say that the party is getting stronger and coming to power is a bit far-fetched. Besides, the surveys also do not indicate a positive trend for BJP coming to power," Kumar said.
The BJP in Telangana got a vote share of nearly seven per cent by winning only one seat in the 2018 assembly polls. However, the saffron party won in two by-elections subsequently besides putting up an impressive performance in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polls.
Within four months after the assembly polls, BJP resurged by winning four Lok Sabha seats in 2019.
When asked how the party is confident of forming a government this time, as they got only seven per cent in the last assembly elections, Reddy said both Congress, which ruled for 10 years before the formation of Telangana and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS governments failed in fulfilling the aspirations of the people.
According to him, farmers, women, students, youth and even government employees are fed up with the present dispensation and the BJP is the only party which had put up a fight for their respective causes.
On the Congress allegation that BRS is a "B Team" of BJP, Reddy termed it "pot calling the kettle black" and said it was those parties which fought elections in coalition and shared power earlier.
Continuing the tirade against the BRS and Congress, he said the former also supported the opposition candidate (Yashwant Sinha) in the last Presidential elections.
Replying to a query about some big BJP leaders leaving the party ahead of the polls, Reddy said, "They have left for personal reasons, but the party will not lose anything. The BJP is a cadre-based and ideology-based party".
Reddy categorically said the BJP will make a Backward Community leader CM of Telangana as the party is committed to fulfilling the aspirations of BCs who comprise 55 per cent of the state's population.
The BJP chief said there was a lot of discussion that took place between Modi and other senior cabinet colleagues before the PM’s statement on setting up a committee on empowering “Madigas” (a SC community), with regard to their demand for categorisation of Scheduled Castes.
Madigas are one of the biggest constituents of Scheduled Castes in the Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Speaking at a rally organised by the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) on Saturday, Modi said the Centre would soon form a committee which would adopt all possible ways for empowering them with regard to their demand for categorisation of Scheduled Castes.
Reddy said the Telangana unit of the BJP has requested the central leadership to ensure Modi addresses four rallies in the state in the run-up to the polls and is awaiting its response.
