All eyes are on Karnataka as the state is set for polling on May 10 for Assembly elections 2023. When the results are announced on 13 May, the election buzz in Karnataka may die down, but the outcome will lay the foundation for the pitches of political parties in neighbouring Telangana — which is slated to head into Assembly elections later this year.
In its second term in office, K Chandrashekar Rao led Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) is keeping a close watch on the Karnataka elections given that the outcome will dictate its narrative to take on its immediate rival in Telangana — the Congress — and the other national party that is vying to become its competitor, the BJP.
Telangana Chief Minister and BRS chief KCR’s camaraderie with the JD(S) and its leader and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy is no secret.If sources are to be believed, the BRS has even helped JD(S) with resources to fight the upcoming election, yet BRS leaders believe a decisive mandate in favour of Congress will help the BRS in the Telangana polls.
If the BJP loses in Karnataka — the only state where it has been in power in the South — it becomes the narrative of how South, as a whole, has rejected BJP.A win for BJP in Karnataka, or even a hung Assembly with the chance of BJP forming an alliance government, will give a boost to the party’s consolidation efforts in Telangana.
Given BJP’s attempts to allegedly poach its MLAs and the massive resources the saffron party has at its disposal, the BRS sees a more secure electoral field for itself if the Congress continues to be its primary rival than the BJP emerging as its alternative.
For the KCR government that faces anti-incumbency, the Congress is still on the ground, the closest political rival with cadres, leaders and candidates present across the state.The party’s electoral fortunes have been on the downward spiral in Telangana, but a win for the party in Karnataka will give it a fillip in Telangana, party insiders hope.
