Interview: Voters categorised under A, B, C, D; will reach out to all says KTR

Hyderabad: “Congress is our straight contender and the BJP is out of elections. However, Bharat Rashtra Samithi will bag more than 88 seats out of the 119 constituencies in Telangana and will form the next government,” said BRS working president KT Rama Rao, in an interview with NewsMeter, before he heads off for the party’s high-octane campaigning, 40 days before the polling date set for November 30.

Excerpts from the interview

Q: Congress has accused BRS of working with the AIMIM, as a ‘B team of BJP,’ so that when it takes centerstage in Telangana, it can help the BJP at the Centre in the upcoming general elections. What is your take on this?

A: Which Congress are you talking about? Is it Revanth Reddy’s Congress, Uttam Kumar Reddy’s Congress, or Rahul Gandhi’s Congress? TPCC president Revanth Reddy is building his own brigade while being in Congress. Mark my words, if the ship sinks (referring to Congress losing the elections), Revanth will move to BJP in Telangana with his set of MLAs. He has displayed his disloyalty several times. Politics is a small world and in our small circle, we have heard Revanth Reddy repeatedly expressing his disconnect with the Congress party and has reserved his seat with the BJP. BRS is not a B team but an A team.

Yes, BRS and AIMIM are friendly parties. And so was Congress and AIMIM before the 2014 elections. When it is convenient for the Congress, they call themselves secular and when it is not, they claim others are communal. Is Congress not in bed with the Shiv Sena party in Maharashtra? Do they not find Shiv Sena communal?

Q: The sitting BRS MLAs are facing the anti-incumbency factor. The anger among the public is evident, especially among the unemployed, who time and again displayed it through protests, be it the TSPSC leak or the recent death of an aspirant by suicide. How will you deal with people’s anger against corrupt BRS MLAs?

A: BRS has delivered 90 per cent of what was promised in the manifesto. Like every current government, BRS is also facing anti-incumbency from certain sections. Come on, even God faces anti-incumbency.

However, people have faith in KCR garu’s governance. Be it Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bheema, Kalyan Laxmi or even Dalit Bandhu, our flagship programs have been copied by other governments. Yes, TSPSC was a mess up, but remember who went to the court: it was Revanth Reddy, Bandi Sanjay and Balmoor Venkat who knocked court’s doors to postpone the examinations. When compared to the Congress government in power in the past, BRS has provided 30 per cent more government jobs. Statistics speak for themselves. We have addressed the issues being faced by the unemployed youth through our schemes and that would be our focus once we come to power.

Regarding tackling voters, there are 3.1 crore voters registered with the Election Commission of Telangana. BRS has categorised voters into A, B, C and D categories. A-category voters are pro-BRS. B-category voters are confused; they don’t know whom to vote for. C-category voters are angry with BRS and D-voters won’t vote for us. For the next 40 days, our job is to go to every voter in Telangana and explain to them why should they consider voting for BRS. Surveys have found that the age group of 18-35 years have developed an anti-establishment mindset and are in a fighting mode. There is a rebellious streak in them. But please note that for every individual, no matter the age group, the anti-BRS factor cannot be uniform. Nor will one failure of the government have a blanket effect. In the last ten years, 1.3 lakh government jobs have been filled, higher than what the Congress did.

Regarding incumbent MLAs, BRS conducted multiple surveys before handing over the B-forms and all the surveys were purely based on merit. They were given to the existing MLAs since they were featured at the top of the survey.

Q: Which are the constituencies where BRS is weak?

A: I reiterate, BRS will win 88 plus seats. Our analysis categorised certain Assembly constituencies such as Manthani and Ramagundam as weak. However, a psephologist (scholar in voting statistics) told me today morning that BRS would win these seats as well. If you look at history – not that history is a mirror to the future – Congress has never crossed 60 marks in the last two elections. I hope this answers your question. Meanwhile, data from the 2014 and 2018 elections have been scrapped and analysed to understand where BRS must work hard. Half the battle is won when you plan well.

BRS has created 119 war rooms comprising 350 employees who will comb voters according to their psychology and current trends. On the ground level, every poll booth will have 100 BRS workers for man-to-man monitoring. These functionaries gather key inputs from mandals and villages.

We are hoping to see high numbers in Khammam district, and we might improve in Asifabad as well. The nominations will begin from November 3 onwards.

Q: Union Minister Smriti Irani said a vote for Congress is a vote for BRS. She accused the BRS of purchasing winning candidates post-election. Your thoughts on this?

A: Smirti Irani should first go to Manipur and apologise to the ethnic groups for the disturbances there. Has she ever spoken about the increasing cylinder prices; did she ever speak for the Indian wrestlers when they accused a BJP MP of sexual harassment? She has all the time to come to Telangana for election campaigning. We welcome her.

Q: BJP has accused BRS of funding Karnataka elections which led to Congress’ victory. Is this true?

A: Knowing that Congress’ win in Karnataka will affect Telangana, why will BRS fund elections in the neighbouring state? The Congress and the BJP don’t want any regional parties to take centerstage. Thus, they are against Stalin, Mamatha garu and KCR garu. Don’t you see a commonality between PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi? They want to crush the regional party’s national ambitions. When Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi can envision becoming a PM, why can’t KCR garu or any regional party do the same?

Q: Few sitting MLAs of BRS have joined the Congress. For example, Malkajgiri MLA Mynampally Hanumanth Rao, who is looking to capture Medak, Medchal, Malkajgiri and even Secunderabad Cantonment. How will you tackle this?

A: Firstly, Mynampally Hanumanth Rao should win from his own constituency before thinking about Medak, Medchal and Secunderabad Cantonment. We might lose certain segments but that doesn’t mean they have a hold over a cluster of Assembly seats, which will affect the formation of the government. It all boils down to KCR garu; our leader has put Telangana on a pedestal. This time our slogan is 'manchiga chesindo, mallee osthado.'