Akbar episode helps BJP, worries TRS

HYDERABAD: The TRS is a worried party amid the flurry of political activity arising from Akbaruddin Owaisi's hate speech in Nirmal on Dec. 22.

Among its main concerns is the possibility that the Hindu reaction to the MIM MLA's speech is likely to serve the interests of the BJP, its competitor for Telangana hearts.

The TRS expects the Centre to say no to separate statehod for Telangana districts when the one month deadline expires, and therefore has been gearing up to whip up an agitation in the region in order to consolidate its vote base.

But Owaisi's speech came as a bolt from the blue, opening up an opportunity for the BJP to take people's discontent in an entirely new direction.

According to analysts, the TRS is unable to attack the BJP at the present juncture and has therefore trained its guns on the YSR Congress and MIM, both of which are against separate statehood, accusing them of forming an unholy alliance to foment communal trouble and obstruct the formation of a Telangana state.

TRS MLA K T Rama Rao has said the YSR Congress has hatched a conspiracy to create communal discord in Telangana to give the Congress central leadership a ruse to deny statehood to the region.

Owaisi's remarks have put the BJP in overdrive to consolidate the Hindu vote bank. The party took out a rally in Nirmal Tuesday when police took Akbaruddin Owaisi there to question him. Further, the party is planning to oragnise praja chaitanya yatras in Telangana to 'educate' people on the 'politics of communalism.'

This gearing up of the BJP is making the TRS nervous lest the people of Telangana rally to the saffron party rather than to the separatist plank of the pink party.

The YSR Congress too sees an opportunity in these developments since a consolidation of Muslim votes would be useful because the MIM is a prospective poll partner in 2014. As the YSR Congress has little support in Telangana right now, any consolidation of votes in favour of the MIM would be welcome.

For the record, the TRS says it is not unduly perturbed by the developments. 'Communal tensions are a temporary phenomenon. People in Telangana want a separate state and they know that we are fighting on their behalf.

Neither the MIM nor the BJP will gain anything from this,' says former MP B Vinod. 'We will explain to the people how the BJP is trying to exploit the situation to its advantage,' he said.