Telangana to witness multi-cornered contests

Hyderabad, Dec 30 (INN): With YSR Congress too planning to tour Telangana, multiple players will be seen battling it out at the hustings to test their relative strengths and by-elections will be providing a ready platform to the battle for attrition.

TRS and TDP are draggers drawn with the former trying to retain its supremacy and moral authority over the region and TDP trying hard to regain its lost ground.

With Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy also planning for a padayatra, things are getting too crowded and TRS has to hug any one of the three major parties or else it faces the threat of being eliminated, should all other parties come to a secret understanding.

At the peak of SakalaJanula Samme, came the Banswada by-election and TDP preferred not to contest the election. Though Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, who defected from TDP to TRS, won by a convincing margin, Congress polling more than 30,000 votes has baffled the TRS think tank.

With Congress being a force to reckon with in the Telangana region, TDP and YSR Congress are vying to create a space for themselves and this move may not be to the liking of TRS as its base is being eroded with every new party making its entry into the region.

Rebels Nagam Janardhana Reddy started his own Telangana Forum and if rebels from every party start their own outfit or group up, the move will certainly be a blot on TRS, which has many serious charges, including total sell out to Delhi bosses.

K Chandrasekhar Rao announcing that the agitation will be intensified after Pongal could be read as bravado to keep the Telangana pot boiling. With too many padayatras, dharnas and elections, the region is going to hog the limelight for one more year but what remains to be seen is how political parties will conduct themselves and what will be the results of by-polls in the region.

There is a division among Communists as well with CPM negating statehood and CPI saying yes to smaller states. CPI is bound to sail with TRS and bargain hard for seats, as Communists are known for their bargaining power and were with Congress or TDP in successive elections. Their dependency increased after the emergence of TDP.

Telangana has become a difficult pill to swallow for BJP as it opposed Telangana while NDA was in power and now they have taken a 180 degree turn. Their base has considerably eroded in the region, but being a national party, it has the potential to bounce back should there be a situation that can motivate people and the leaders.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leaders have made their stand clear on Telangana and they are identified with Congress all the time. Their presence across the region will help Congress and the multi-cornered contests, by its very nature, are likely to give a fractured verdict unless a different arithmetic comes into play.