With Telangana set for the Assembly polls on November 30, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has sought to take a lead on the campaigning front, even as its rivals, the Congress and the BJP, are yet to finalise any list of their candidates. On August 21, BRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR declared his party's candidates for 115 of the state’s total 119 Assembly constituencies, thereby giving them the go-ahead to kick off their campaigns. The BRS has also drawn up its blueprint for electioneering to be spearheaded by KCR. As per the party's campaign plan, KCR will on October 15 hold a meeting with the BRS candidates at Telangana Bhavan in Hyderabad and give them B-forms to enable them to file their nominations as the party's nominees. KCR will then also release the party's manifesto and later in the day address a public meeting in Husnabad. KCR will address rallies in the Jangaon and Bhongir constituencies on October 16. He would attend public meetings in Siddipet and Sircilla on October 17, On October 18, he will participate in public meetings in the Jadcharla and Medchal seats. The CM will contest from two seats – Gajwel and Kamareddy. His existing constituency Gajwel is spread across Siddipet and Medak districts, while Kamareddy is located in the district of the same name. KCR has said he is contesting from two seats following “requests” from his party leaders. On November 9, the CM will file his nomination for the Kamareddy seat and will address a public meeting there. Congress guarantees After announcing on September 17 six poll guarantees – at a public meeting in Telangana, attended by the Congress top brass including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi – the party seems to have gone quiet. ``The release of the candidates' lists got delayed a bit. We will release it after Dussehra,’’ said a top party leader. Congress sources say there are too many aspirants for its Assembly poll tickets and that each faction in the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) wants its share in the ticket sweepstakes and are exerting pressure, which is causing the delay. After the September 17 public meeting, the Congress leadership flagged off teams to all 119 Assembly constituencies to start campaigning. “However, without a candidate, it was not much effective,” sources say. "For each constituency there are more than four or five aspirants and they are campaigning on their own without knowing whether they will get the ticket or not. It is a half-hearted attempt,’’ a leader said. While the BRS and the BJP are yet to announce their manifestos, the Congress has so far announced six guarantees, which the party has pledged to fulfil if voted to power. These include Rs 2,500 per month assistance for each woman, LPG cylinders at Rs 500 each to eligible beneficiaries, free bus travel for women across the state, Rs 15,000 per acre for every farmer every season on the lines of the BRS government's Rythu Bandhu scheme, providing Rs 12,000 to every tenant farmer and farm labourer, and Rs 4,000 pension for eligible persons, and Rs 10 lakh medical insurance for every person in the state. Other Congress promises include the Indiramma housing proposal under which Rs 5 lakh would be given to homeless poor, while 250 sq yard house sites would be given to all those who participated in the Telangana statehood movement. BJP rallies The BJP has set the tone for its campaign by announcing the setting up of the Turmeric Board and Tribal University, and has announced a calendar of public meetings starting Tuesday with Amit Shah. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior BJP leaders will address several public meetings in the coming days, according to Telangana BJP chief G Kishan Reddy. ``The list of candidates is being finalised. We will announce it in a few days along with a proper manifesto,’’ Reddy said. Several BJP leaders are of the opinion that the party candidates' lists and the manifesto should have been released earlier, especially because it has now become “a contest between BRS, Congress, and BJP”. ``After the Congress’s win in Karnataka (in May this year), the party has emerged as a challenger in Telangana too. BJP was under the impression that the contest would be between BRS and BJP but now the party has to tackle Congress too – and it would have been helpful if our candidates and manifesto had been announced earlier,’’ a leader said.
