Poll-bound | Inside the political war rooms of Telangana

Emotions are running high in the southern state and each political party is doing its best to mine them. A look at the strategies of the BJP, Congress and BRS

In a state where there are more than three dominant castes, about 18 classified backward classes accounting for 52% of the population, an electorally muscular minority community with a decisive 15% vote, and a demanding electorate from the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) categories, decoding how one vote could be puzzling. But the bigger question that begs a response would be how the political parties strategise in this multi-pronged battle amongst those fighting to rule over India’s youngest state. The answer to both questions is quite straightforward: Pure, raw emotion.

It is quite a widely accepted fact CM Chandrashekar Rao’s family is where all power lies.. (PTI)

Voters here care for strong leadership and a stronger connection with them. They own their leaders’ victories and battle scars and hop with the candidates to parties that he or she choose to switch to. Against this backdrop, the three main contenders — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Indian National Congress (INC), and the regional Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) — have drawn up their battle plans. The Bahujan Samaj Party’s RS Praveen Kumar, a policeman turned politician, Jana Sena Party’s Pawan Kalyan, an actor-cum-politician, and the Communist parties join in as show spoilers for the assembly election slated for November 30.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

For the BJP, the highlight of the campaign is that neither Hindutva nor the Modi factor seem to matter in Telangana.

“In the absence of both vote magnets, the BJP is at large, frankly speaking,” said Dr Pulla Rao, a columnist and economist.

Two organisations — the Association of a Billion Minds (ABN), and Varahe Analytics — are drawing up plans for the BJP, a political strategist who has knowledge of this development told HT.

“ABN is a spin-off of Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC and is running the show from Delhi for all five states. Varahe is an in-house political consultancy firm working with a national party in the domains of electoral campaign management,” the strategist, who did not wish to be named, said.

Varahe, ostensibly primed and shaped up by BJP’s national general secretary BL Santosh, seems to be assisting ABN in executing the go-to-market plan for Telangana. The political strategist said Sunil Bansal, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary and BJP General Secretary in charge of the polling in Telangana whets the strategy, including state leaders Bandi Sanjay and Kishan Reddy’s inputs, and sends it for review by Union home minister Amit Shah, NV Subhash, the BJP spokesperson said.

It is upon the advice of these two consulting companies that the local leadership, guided by former minister Prakash Javadekar and Telangana state-in-charge Tarun Chugh, is executing the blueprint. A BJP spokesperson told HT previously that, unlike other states where Central ministers bombard constituencies to canvas for the party before the elections, in Telangana, only a handful of areas where the BJP hopes to win — including the Greater Hyderabad region — will see campaigns by the heavyweights. In late October, union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, and Smriti visited a handful of constituencies - Huzurabad, Suryapet, and Amberpet - where the winning probability is relatively higher for the party.

Some of their main poll planks include anti-incumbency, anti-dynasty, and anti-corruption.

Indian National Congress (INC)

In the Congress, the key strategist is the tried-and-tested Sunil Kanugolu and the party’s narrative is his, or so everyone believes. For those who have not followed much of the Karnataka election and are unaccustomed to Kanugolu’s ways, here is why he is so revered: He is known to bring a much-needed structure and seamless communication to the party. The political strategist who was instrumental to the Congress’ win in Karnataka earlier this year is now a full-time AICC member who is also assisting other Congress chief ministers in their poll campaign. Unlike the BJP’s unusually centralised campaign, Kanugolu’s Telugu roots inflate his acceptability amongst the local Congressmen.

Former MP Madhu Yaskhi Goud, the firm, yet soft-spoken loyalist is the head of the Campaign Committee constituted by the Congress. Madhu Goud’s acceptability as a strong OBC leader in the party and as the man seen having access to the Gandhi family qualified him for the job, Congress leaders said.

“Our primary narrative revolves around the six guarantees and that we are the only alternative to the BRS. Unification of the anti-KCR (incumbent chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao) wave is what we will do on-ground,” Goud said.

It is perhaps the only way for the Congress to regain lost ground after staying out of power in the state for 10 years. Congress insiders say that besides Kanugolu, the trio of Revanth Reddy, Goud, and Manik Rao Thakre, the party’s Telangana in-charge and Rahul Gandhi’s man, has laid out the strategy for the upcoming polls.

This includes the fine print for each seat including how to play the media, what emotional strings to tug at, and which dominant castes should be talked up. In interior Telangana, for instance, the statehood movement is invoked and Congress is portrayed as the 'Father' who helped the people of the state realise their dream. The sinking piers of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation project is now the Congress war room's campaign favourite where the CM is depicted as a failed engineer who is sinking fertile fields.

The political strategist quoted earlier said, “If the leaders want to achieve something, they fire from Kanugolu’s shoulders saying he suggested the plan of action. It is otherwise impossible to unite the egos.”

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS)

It is quite a widely accepted fact CM Chandrashekar Rao’s family is where all power lies. And that’s where decisions are made too. The scion of Telangana, as KCR’s son and IT and Industries KT Rama Rao is known, is heading the campaign department for the BRS. However, many say this post should have ideally been given to his cousin and grassroots leader T Harish Rao. Yet, the suave, US-educated politician, known to disarm his detractors with a smile, has handed out a constituency-wise checklist to each of his leaders to tick.

In the second week of October, the BRS appointed 54 in-charges for the 119 constituencies with a three-fold objective: Highlight the state’s achievements in the last 9.5 years, coordinate with local leaders over poll management and electioneering activities at the booth level, and promote the manifesto with utmost dedication. KTR is said to be keeping a tab on the progress made in 80-90 constituencies.

A senior functionary who is close to the family said, “Our main job is to evoke the Telangana sentiment and remind the people that it is our party that has fulfilled their dream of having a state unto themselves. Mallikarjun Kharge says they gave us Telangana. It is not theirs to give; it is ours to keep.”

During the second leg of the Vijayabheri yatra, Mallikarjun Kharge, in a rally in Sangareddy claimed that it was Gandhi Pariwar and the Congress that was responsible for the creation of the new state and that the the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now, BRS) was only a collateral beneficiary in the process. "Do you remember who formed Telangana? Sonia Gandhi did. Sonia Gandhi fulfilled the wishes of the Telangana people," Kharge said to a crowd of over 30,000 people who erupted shouting pro-Telangana slogans the moment the statehood issue was raised.

Emotion clearly trumps caste, religion, and manifestos in Telangana.