Telangana Elections: Oppn calls BRS list anti-women, wants poll code implemented

Hyderabad: The opposition parties in Telangana have slammed the ruling BRS party over the release of its first list of MLA candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections.

The BJP has accused the BRS of misusing power and also not giving enough opportunities to women. The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) has also requested the immediate implementation of the Model Code of Conduct in Telangana State.

Allegations of misuse of power

G Niranjan, AICC member, senior vice-president and chairman of the Election Commission Coordination Committee, has written to Rajeev Kumar, chief election commissioner of India, requesting the immediate implementation of the Model Code of Conduct in Telangana State.

Niranjan pointed out that the BRS president and chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao has already announced the list of BRS candidates for 115 out of 119 Assembly segments, signalling the start of the campaign for the Assembly elections. This means that there is a risk that the ruling party will misuse its power to influence the voters, he alleged.

‘KCR is scared of losing Gajwel’

TPCC president Revanth Reddy said, “After seeing the first list of candidates released by the BRS at 2:30 pm on Monday, I believe that the Congress party will come to power in Telangana. This is because Chandrashekar Rao, the chief minister and president of the BRS, has made several changes to the list, including contesting from two constituencies instead of one. This suggests that he is not confident of winning from Gajwel, his home constituency, and is therefore hedging his bets by contesting from Kamareddy as well.”

NV Subhash, the BJP state spokesperson also alleged that KCR is contesting from two seats from the fear of defeat. He also said that KCR’s defeat is certain in Gajwel and Kamareddy constituencies. Subhash further alleged that KCR is corrupt and has been protecting corrupt MLAs.

“Why were more women not allocated seats in the first list of BRS? KCR is anti-women and has always violated women’s reservations,” he said.

“The BJP is the only party that gives equal opportunity to women in all fields. The first list released by KCR has ensured the BJP’s victory in the next election,” added Subhash.

BRS criticised for ignoring farmers, outsourcing employees

The former minister of Telangana and state BJP election management committee chairman Etela Rajender said that the government has embarrassed 5 to 6 lakh outsourcing employees, including teachers, VRAs, and VROs. He alleged that many of these employees have not received their salaries and the government has closed all schools in tandas and bastis.

He also said, “The situation is dire for farmers as well. They cannot get a loan waiver unless they sell their lands. KCR, who boasted that Telangana is a rich state with no shortage of wealth, has turned it into a heap of debt.”

“In a union state, the House of 294 members would give time to speak in the Assembly. But today, the opposition MLAs are not given a chance to speak in the Assembly. We will fight to solve the problems of people from all walks of life. People’s problems will be resolved only if the BRS government collapses,” said Etela.

Allegations of discrimination against women

The BJP state spokesperson, Rani Rudrama, said that the BRS party has only given seven out of 119 tickets to women, which is a mere 3 per cent. She said that this is in stark contrast to the BJP, which has given 30 per cent reservation to women in party committees across the country. She alleged that MLC Kavitha, who has been protesting for women’s reservation, did not protest at Telangana Bhavan.

Rani Rudrama further said that the NDA government was the first to introduce the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament, and the BJP has been a consistent supporter of the bill.

“The people of Telangana will see through Kavitha’s hypocrisy. She cannot claim to be a champion of women’s rights while her own party does not give women a fair chance to participate in politics,” added Rani Rudrama.

The Telangana Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in December 2023.