DKS may turn poll strategist forT'gana elections

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: Even as talks are under way to get YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) to merge with the Congress, rumours about Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar taking on a prominent role in the neighbouring state’s elections, slated for December, have gained steam.

The speculations first began when Congress steamrolled their way to 135 seats in the Karnataka Assembly polls on May 13 under the leadership of the now CM Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.

The Karnataka Congress chief was on good terms with the late CM of erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh (AP) YS Rajasekhara Reddy and his daughter Sharmila.

She had split with the Andhra-based YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) led by her brother and state CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy back in February 2021. In July of the same year, she launched the YSRTP.

She has traveled to New Delhi and is currently in the process of negotiating the terms on which her party would merge with the Congress. Apart from Sharmila, Shivakumar’s entry into Telangana electoral politics is reportedly being welcomed by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A Revanth Reddy.

The state’s politics is dominated by the erstwhile Telagana Rashtra Samithi, now rechristened the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) with K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) at the helm as CM.

KCR had famously undertaken a fast unto death for Telangana’s statehood back in November 2009 and succeeded. His party snatched the reins of power in 2014 and has ruled Telangana for the entirety of the state’s existence.

BRS has 102 members in the 119-strong Telangana Assembly with allies All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Opposition parties BJP and Congress managing MLAs in single digits in the House.

BJP was said to be the biggest challenger to BRS earlier but observers say the perception changed with the Congress landslide victory in Karnataka back in May.

DKS, Kanugolu to be deployed? If Shivakumar makes a foray into Telangana’s electoral politics, he would be accompanied by party strategist Sunil Kanugolu who was instrumental in securing a simple majority for the Congress in Karnataka.

The party’s central leadership is said to be keen on the same. The duo are expected to use the tried and tested twopronged strategy of utilization of survey-based data to aid their campaign on the one hand and the welfare schemes similar to the five guarantees that the Grand Old Party has promised in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka.

Congress last ruled the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh back in 2014 under then CM Kiran Kumar Reddy. The party agreeing to the bifurcation of the state had devastating consequences for their electoral fortunes in both states.