LOK-SABHA-ELECTION
Lok Sabha Polls 2024: Is KCR-led BRS facing existential threat in Telangana?
After a humbling loss in the state assembly elections, Telangana's BRS is expected to decline further in the Lok Sabha elections bound to be held in the BJP-Congress binary of national politics. The KCR-led party is likely to face existential threat, turning the country’s youngest state a home to bi-polar politics
LOK-SABHA-ELECTION
Andhra: Delhi’s hand of friendship and poll arithmetic drives zero-chemistry Naidu-BJP alliance
Chandrababu Naidu needs BJP’s crutches to take on the imperious Jagan Mohan Reddy. Whatever votes BJP and Jana Sena can pull will help TDP in the assembly polls. But a smooth vote transfer may be difficult between the three allies. Moreover, BJP isn’t exactly popular in Andhra Pradesh because of inaction on the “special status” front
POLITICS
Brother vs Sister battle in Andhra Pradesh could end up benefiting Chandrababu Naidu
It is not the revival of Congress but a flight of malcontents within his own party towards sister YS Sharmila Reddy, who has an equal claim to the YSR legacy, that will worry Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Sharmila as a vote-cutter could help TDP as it goes about mopping anti-incumbency
POLITICS
Telangana: Will national parties dominate in 2024 polls and sideline the BRS?
After JD(S) in Karnataka, it is the turn of BRS to bite the dust. Cut to a Lok Sabha poll where regional parties have lesser skin in the game, it will be the two national parties BJP and Congress that will dominate voters’ mindspace
ASSEMBLY-ELECTIONS
Telangana Elections 2023: Failure to create adequate jobs troubles KCR
A young Dalit woman contesting as an Independent while foregrounding the issue of joblessness and what it does to the aspirations of the poor are getting attention in her constituency, across the Telugu-speaking states, and on social media. Are increasingly vocal youth disillusioned by the current growth paradigm a sign of where Telangana and Indian politics are headed to?
ASSEMBLY-ELECTIONS
Telangana Elections 2023: Former Naxals make a beeline for electoral politics
From Congress’s Seethakka to BJP’s Etela Rajender, a host of former Naxals have found a happy hunting ground in Telangana’s electoral politics. It’s not really a surprise, given the state’s long tryst with left wing extremism and the dominance that the People’s War Group once enjoyed over vast swathes of North Telangana
ASSEMBLY-ELECTIONS
Telangana: With five aspirants for the CM’s post, Congress battles a familiar old problem
The Telangana Congress is in quite a farcical situation. It is up against the formidable K Chandrashekar Rao and has just 5 MLAs in the 119 member assembly but its leaders are already dreaming of the party winning the upcoming elections and fancying their chances to become the Chief Minister
INDIA
Telangana: Will caste make a comeback after a decade of statehood sentiment?
Congress is stitching a Karnataka-like Ahinda coalition to its traditional Reddy bedrock. For nine years, KCR has triumphed over caste divides by tapping statehood sentiments. BJP’s difficult attempt to unite the scattered OBC vote and play up Hindutva is the third pole in the fight for a winning social coalition
POLITICS
Telangana: With BRS needing a reprieve and BJP allies, pragmatism trumps animosity
The Karnataka elections have upset BRS and BJP calculations. Just as both parties were preparing for a titanic showdown, Congress staged a revival. But a soft corner to BRS will be a tough sell for the BJP central leadership after going hammer and tongs against KCR since 2018 on corruption and nepotism
ASSEMBLY-ELECTIONS
Will the upcoming Telangana elections catalyse a BJP-TDP alliance?
N Chandrababu Naidu needs BJP’s support to oust Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh. But Jagan has steadfastly supported the Modi government in Delhi. However, the BJP in Telangana needs allies to oust KCR and withstand a Congress revival and this is where TDP’s presence in southern Telangana and Hyderabad matters
BUSINESS
Telangana: Karnataka upturns BJP-Congress contest for opposition space. But can either party beat KCR?
Congress, battling fierce factionalism, is hoping to cover up its weaknesses by fronting Priyanka Gandhi. But the Karnataka victory may just have put it ahead of BJP, which was painting a narrative of replacing Congress in Telangana as the main opposition. KCR, meanwhile, won’t mind the split in anti-incumbency votes
POLITICS
Karnataka Effect: Is BJP mulling a change of electoral strategy in neighbouring Telangana?
Until the Karnataka elections, BJP was pushing ahead full steam with a Hindutva agenda spearheaded by its aggressive state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar. But his detractors, mostly ex-TRS and ex-Congress recruits, weren’t convinced this strategy would work. Now the moderates seem to be catching the BJP high command’s attention
BUSINESS
To win 2024 Andhra Pradesh elections, Chandrababu Naidu is busy friending those he spurned in 2019
To overcome the humongous challenge posed by the dynamic Jagan Mohan Reddy, the veteran of many poll battles Chandrababu Naidu has zeroed in on two potential allies: BJP and Jana Sena. But there’s a catch: BJP is disinterested, Pawan Kalyan is fickle
BUSINESS
Power and Prejudice: A storied political family’s saga written in blood
The multiple power struggles in the YS family that dominates Andhra Pradesh politics may have led to the cold-blooded murder of YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s brother, Vivekananda Reddy. The CBI’s findings have stumped CM Jagan as he counted the alleged masterminds, who are also his relatives, among his closest aides
BUSINESS
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Crisis: Nine years after Telangana statehood, KCR again flummoxes Andhra politicians
K Chandrashekar Rao, facing a spirited challenge from BJP in poll-bound Telangana, has seized upon an issue in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, to play the outsider card against BJP. But whipping up latent Telugu pride sentiments over Visakha steel plant is leaving Andhra politicians looking to curry favour with BJP embarrassed
POLITICS
Amid signs of anti-incumbency in Andhra Pradesh, stage set for another bitter Jagan-Naidu face-off in 2024
TDP has struggled to recover from its decimation in 2019 at the hands of Jagan Reddy. Jagan has bet big on welfare hoping that handouts will satisfy the poorer sections who voted for him. But a middle-class backlash appears to be building up, which Chandrababu Naidu hopes to leverage
POLITICS
Battle For Telangana: Amid rumours of early polls, KCR keeps both rivals and BRS leaders guessing
Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao faces a tough triangular contest this time and he is busy turning it to his advantage. Meanwhile, both BJP and Congress are struggling to put their house in order amid intra-party power struggles
