Telangana parties' quest to find their political equilibrium

While Congress faces acid test, BJP feels pressure to prove potential, and BRS fights to stay relevant; industry pushes for MSME benefits and GST easing. SHINE JACOB decodes

The Telangana Pradesh are leaving no stone unturned. While the thousands of new companies to the state. needs of the T Committee (IPCC) office, called BJP already had a slew of campaigns by However, the industry believes that more po " Although the state and central the city, was buzzing with vibrant party workers expressing confidence in victory in the Lok Sabha (LS) polls, riding the momentum from the recent Assembly polls.

Guiding Business Standard into one of the rooms in the palatial building, adorned with colonial architecture, TPCC Senior Vice-President G Niranjan initiated the conversation, reflecting the same confidence, calling it a "continuation" of the Assembly polls, with a victory in "12-14 seats".

Telangana, comprising 17 LS constituencies, is poised for polls in a single phase on Monday. The state is witnessing a fierce three-dimensional electoral battle involving the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), formerly known as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. It was only five months earlier in December 2023 that the Congress came to power, ending the 10-year rule of the K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR)-led BRS.

As the triangular political contest in Telangana intensifies, many believe that for the regional major BRS, it is a battle for survival after being routed in the Assembly polls held late last year. What is haunting the party this time is the scams, the 10-year anti-incumbency factor, and family dominance in the party.