Bandi Sanjay sees no impact of Karnataka outcome on Telangana

KARIMNAGAR: BJP state president and Member of Parliament Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Saturday said that the people of Telangana were politically aware and would not allow the Karnataka mark of politics in the state.

Speaking at a media conference, he predicted a rout of the Congress party in Telangana in the coming elections. “Congress fared miserably in Huzurabad, Munugode, Dubbaka, and GHMC elections. On the other hand, the vote bank of the BJP has considerably increased since the 2018 elections. We have won four MP seats and the byelections helped us to improve the vote bank,” Bandi said.

He argued that minority appeasement would not work in Telangana and the voters were firmly behind the BJP and were ready to reject the so-called secular parties.

Calling Chief Minister and BRS chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao a ‘shadow friend’ of the Congress party, he predicted a joint fight of the Congress, the BRS, the MIM, and the Left parties against the BJP in Telangana.

“The BRS is a good friend of the Congress in Delhi and also in Karnataka, the bonhomie will continue in Telangana elections,” he said adding that senior Congress leaders such as Uttam Kumar Reddy, Jana Reddy, and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy also substantiated this relationship.

Bandi further alleged that KCR even offered to help Congress to run the Karnataka MLA camp in Hyderabad if required.

He pointed out that the BJP voting percentage in Karnataka was intact. During the last elections, the BJP was having 36 percent and in this election also it secured 36 percent and there was a decline only in the number of seats won. The Congress party was having 38 percent voting during the last elections and it had won 86 seats and this election it secured 43 percent voting and increased its seats, he stated.

The JD(S) voting had come down from 20 percent to 13 percent during this election, he said, and added that the JD(S) decline was gained by the Congress party, which played the communal card blaming the BJP. He charged that the JD(S), the National Democratic Party, and the MIM had supported the Congress party helping in its victory. He asked why BRS, which was a national party, had not contested in the Karnataka elections.

He dared the parties to announce four percent reservations in Telangana for minorities and ban Bajrang Dal and win elections. He said that the BJP was gaining steadily in Telangana and it was the only alternative to BRS.