While the ongoing Lok Sabha elections have been pitched as a direct battle between the BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Congress-led opposition INDIA bloc, ex-Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has claimed that depending on the results, it could even be a group of regional parties that form government at the Centre with support from NDA or INDIA.
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“I will tell you a surprising thing now,” the politician, also known by his initials KCR, told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
“This time, something new is going to happen in the country. All the regional parties are very strong now and they will emerge as a force. It's not the regional parties supporting NDA or INDIA. Either of them will have to support the regional parties' group. It will be a reverse thing,” the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief said.
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While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called on voters to give more than 370 Lok Sabha seats for the BJP and over 400 for the NDA, he predicted 226 seats for the ruling coalition, well below the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
“The Prime Minister has lost his charisma. People have realised it. The value of the Rupee has gone down to its lowest level and there is a capital drain from India now. Farmers are angry, many others are angry,” KCR remarked.
{{/usCountry}}“The Prime Minister has lost his charisma. People have realised it. The value of the Rupee has gone down to its lowest level and there is a capital drain from India now. Farmers are angry, many others are angry,” KCR remarked.
{{/usCountry}}All 17 parliamentary segments in Telangana will vote on Monday in the fourth round of the seven-phase general elections. In the previous 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BRS won nine of these constituencies, while the BJP won four. The Congress bagged three seats, and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi secured fourth consecutive term from the Hyderabad seat.
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In December last year, however, the BRS lost assembly elections in Telangana, India's youngest state (formed in June 2014). The Congress was elected to office, and A Revanth Reddy, its state unit chief, succeeded KCR and became Telangana's second chief minister.