BRS stays away from MLC elections; BJP alleges secret pact between party and Congress

Hyderabad: The main opposition in Telangana, BRS, has decided not to contest in two Member of Legislative Council (MLC) seats from the Teachers constituency and one seat from the Graduates constituency, which are scheduled for polls on February 27. The electoral fight will now be between the two national parties: Congress and BJP. The deadline for submitting nominations ended on Monday.

In the Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar constituency, there will be elections for one teacher seat, one graduate seat, and one teacher seat in the Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda constituency.

With eight MPs and also winning eight MLAs in the north Telangana region, its highest tally in the state, the BJP is upbeat and has drawn up a campaign strategy. BJP leaders and MPs have already taken to the streets to campaign for the party's candidate in the graduates constituency. Congress, which already has a traditional voter base, is also confident of winning seats, as the party is in power.

During his visit to Nalgonda district for the MLC elections, union minister of state for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar participated in the BJP district office workshop and strategized for victory. He alleged that Congress lacked proper candidates for the MLC elections, which is an unusual situation for a ruling party.

He claimed that Congress and BRS have entered a secret deal to protect corrupt BRS leaders from arrest in scams like Kaleshwaram, drugs, and Formula-E racing. In return, BRS is ensuring Congress wins the MLC elections by not fielding its candidate. He challenged BRS to explain why they did not contest if there was no secret agreement.

Bandi Sanjay also questioned Congress' promises, such as an unemployment allowance of Rs 4,000 per month, which has not been given for 14 months, amounting to Rs 56,000 per unemployed person. He urged people to confront Congress leaders and demand their dues. He also criticised the party for failing to fulfil its promise of 2 lakh jobs, providing only 50,000 jobs but falsely claiming 25,000 more through misleading notifications.