Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Understanding the keenly watched three-cornered battle for 17 seats of Telangana in Phase 4

In 2019, the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) had won 9 of the 17 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 4 seats, Congress 3 and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM won the lone Hyderabad seat.

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The contention connected May 13 volition beryllium keenly watched for aggregate reasons. One, a resurgent Congress, would privation to repetition its November 2023 assembly election victory. The Congress bagged 64 retired of 119 assembly seats successful Telangana, ending the 10-year regularisation of the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS. Two, the BRS, connected its part, is warring a endurance conflict aft repeated setbacks post-2023 assembly predetermination defeat.

Third, Telangana is cardinal for the BJP for its Mission South and the 400-seat people for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) successful the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. While Telangana is the lone authorities successful the south, isolated from Karnataka, wherever the BJP won seats successful 2019, the saffron enactment besides marked an summation successful its ballot stock to astir 14 per cent.

Three-cornered contest

The Congress party is banking connected the six guarantees it promised successful the run-up to assembly elections past year. Four of these guarantees person been fulfilled. The enactment has besides inducted leaders from different parties to summation its tally from 3 seats successful 2019. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who leads the Congress campaign, has vowed to instrumentality the enactment tally to 2 digits.

Former main curate and BRS main KCR has campaigned connected a autobus crossed the 17 seats successful the state. KCR was barred from campaigning for 2 days by the Election Commission of India for utilizing violative language.

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The BJP depends connected Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who extensively campaigned successful Telangana. In fact, the PM is addressing rallies successful Telangana connected May 10, a time earlier the past time of campaigning for the 4th signifier of Lok Sabha elections. Already, the PM and Home Minister Amit Shah person addressed much than fractional a twelve meetings successful the state

So, Telangana is acceptable for a high-stakes triangular conflict betwixt the BJP, the Congress and the BRS connected May 13. The seventeen seats of Telangana see Hyderabad, Adilabad, Peddapalli, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Medak, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Chevella, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Nagarkurnool, Bhuvanagiri, Warangal, Mahbubabad, Khammam, Zahirabad

Key Contests

The cardinal contests successful Telangana are successful Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Karim Nagar and Chevella constiuencies.

In Hyderabad, the BJP has fielded classical dancer and entrepreneur Madhavi Latha against the sitting MP and AIMIM main Asaduddin Owaisi. Hyderabad has been a AIMIM stronghold with Owaisi winning the spot for 4 presumption since 2004. Before 2014, Owaisi’s begetter Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi represented Hyderabad successful the Lok Sabha for six terms.

In Secunderabad, the BJP has fielded sitting MP and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy for the 3rd time. Reddy is contesting against BRS’s T Padma Rao Goud and the Congress’s Danam Nagender.

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In Karimnagar, erstwhile BJP authorities main and sitting Member of Parliament Bandi Sanjay Kumar is contesting against BRS's B Vinod Kumar. In the 2019 elections, Bandi won the Karimnagar spot by astir 90,000 votes. The Congress has fielded Velichala Rajender Rao from the seat.

BJP's Richest Candidate

In Chevella, Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, the BJP’s richest campaigner crossed the state truthful far, is up against the Congress's Member of Parliament (MP) G Ranjith Reddy and BRS’s Kasani Gnaneshwar Mudiraj. Konda Reddy won the spot successful 2014 arsenic a BRS campaigner but mislaid successful 2019 arsenic a Congress candidate.

As galore as 96 Lok Sabha constituencies crossed 10 states and national territories volition spell to polls successful signifier 4 of Lok Sabha Elections connected May 13. Apart from Telangana, each 25 seats successful Andhra Pradesh, 13 seats successful Uttar Pradesh, 11 successful Maharashtra, 8 successful West Bengal, 8 successful Madhya Pradesh, 5 successful Bihar,  four each successful Jharkhand and Odisha, and 1 spot successful Jammu and Kashmir volition besides ballot connected May 13.

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Published: 10 May 2024, 11:48 AM IST