The Congress and Rahul Gandhi cannot defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and if they can, they should do it in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao said on Wednesday. Rao, the son of Telangana Chief Minister KCR, said that Rahul Gandhi is the biggest asset for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Rahul Gandhi and his Congress party are incapable of defeating the BJP and if they can, they should do it in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Gujarat. Here in Telangana, he obstructs one party (BRS) that is capable of defeating the BJP. This is why I say Rahul Gandhi is the biggest asset for Modi Ji," KT Rama Rao said while speaking at the Telangana Roundtable 2023.
Telangana is heading for the assembly elections, which will be held in a single phase on November 30. KTR said he was confident of breaching the previous records. "I think we'll be able to break our previous records, especially because we have already been given two terms by the people of the state, and the same trendline is ongoing. We'll win more than we won last time," KT Rama Rao said.
In the last election, the BRS, then TRS, bagged 88 of 119 seats with 46.9 per cent votes. The Congress was the second largest party with 19 seats with 28.4 per cent votes while the NDA could win just 1 seat with nearly 7 per cent votes.
Speaking on whether the BJP and the BRS are doing shadow-boxing, Rao said, "I don't think Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi would like to see any third person emerge in the country. They won't let the country talk of anyone else. Rahul alleges every other party is a B-team for the BJP, he should work on his own weaknesses."
KTR said that even PM Modi would not want Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to win again, as he said it would impact Maharashtra and other states as well. "We contested solo in 2014 and 2018, show me one instance where we worked with the BJP." He said the NDA is a sinking ship and the BRS does not want to form an alliance with them.
Speaking on BJP's chances in Telangana, the BRS working president said that the saffron party has hit rock bottom in the southern state. "People are not ready to vote for the BJP or Congress today...every Indian should work towards sending Modi Ji home today, then they should think about who should be the Prime Minister. A leader like KCR is a national asset, who has worked to uplift all sections of society," KTR said.
The BRS leader said that after his party wins in Telangana, it will make a foray into Maharashtra.
As per opinion polls, KCR's BRS is ahead in Telangana but its vote share may come down by nearly 7 per cent. The Congress is projected to increase its vote share by 10 per cent while the BJP, which once looked better placed to become the second-largest party, is expected to retain its vote share with no upswing.