BC card a gamble for BJP

Will Modi’s BC mantra help in BJP getting flood of votes? Will his speech and announcement that first BC Chief Minister of the state would be from BJP work wonders for the saffron party? Will Modi’s speech help in erasing the impression that BJP and BRS are same coin of two sides?

L B Stadium was the place which had laid foundation to catapult Modi into the seat of PM as he himself claimed. But will it bring the saffron party to power here and create another history by providing chance for BC CM to take oath from the same venue?

Well while it is surely an uphill task, one will have to wait till December 3 when the results would be announced. Modi did make a strong pitch to play the BC card. He labelled the Congress as C team and said both have certain qualities like Parivarvad, corruption and scams in their DNA. He also thundered that the corrupt will not be spared. But will people really believe this? The question they ask is why no action has been taken so far in the Delhi liquor scam if there was enough evidence with the centre or the probe agencies and when ruling party leaders here were criticising Modi and the ED.

They even allege that BJP leaders were not participating seriously in campaign even in the Assembly constituencies of Hyderabad where it has 40 corporators.

The BJP which has started its so-called vigorous campaign late in the day and has announced the names of the candidates only couple of days back, has very little time left to establish its credentials and win over the people. The big question now is will BJP be able to unite all the BCs in the state? There is clear division among the BCs, and it would amount to day-dreaming if one thinks that they would vote en-masse for BJP.

Modi’s speech lacked the usual punch and did not appear to stir the audience as did in the past though the crowd turnout was very impressive. The BJP which has just firmed up an alliance with Jana Sena which is entering the electoral fray for the first time in Telangana had ensured that Pawan Kalyan was also present on the stage and addressed the gathering.

But Pawan’s speech sounded more like felicitation of Modi and not an election speech. He spent most of the little time he had expressing his admiration for Modi and how he always wanted to see a powerful leader like Modi to be at the helm of affairs.

It was surprising to hear this as from him it was the same Pawan who in English shouted at top of his voice in 2019 elections that Modi had given rotten “Ladoo” for Andhra Pradesh in place of special category. His speech somehow lacked conviction at least that is what the people felt and they did not show much interest.

This meeting, the feeling among people is that it is meant to divide the BC votes. BJP feels that the BCs do not trust the Congress much and hence those sections which are unhappy with BRS government will support the saffron party and it would help in marginalising the Congress chance to come to power. The BJPs BC mantra certainly cannot bring them to power in Telangana at least during 2023 Assembly elections. But yes it may help the ruling party if the BC votes get divided between the Congress and BJP.