North-South knockout on cards: Congress, BRS go in opposite directions

Hyderabad: The Congress and BRS parties, which want to outwit each other in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, are likely to indulge in ‘Mission North-South’ battle. While the Congress will lay greater focus on North Telangana where it drew blank in the Assembly elections, the BRS will try to regain its lost ground in South Telangana.

The Congress wants to show its strength in eight North Telangana Lok Sabha segments, out of the total of 17 MP seats in the state. Party sources said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and other Congress leaders were in talks with the BRS leaders including some sitting MLAs and are likely to take Operation Poaching so that it can hit two birds in one shot. In the last elections, the BJP had won Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nizamabad MP seats. The BRS had registered victory in Medak, Zaheerabad, Peddapalli, Warangal and Mahabubabad Lok Sabha segments.

Leaders said that Revanth was confident of winning a majority MP seats in South Telangana in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections as the Congress swept the polls there. The big challenge before the party was to win a majority of Lok Sabha seats in North Telangana. The recent meeting of four MLAs from old Medak district with the CM and the joining of Peddapalli MP Venkatesh Netha Borlakunta, along with BRS leader Manne Jeevan Reddy, had come as a shot in the arm for the Congress. A senior leader said that many sitting BRS MLAs were in talks with the Congress leadership. Sources said the Congress would have no objection to field strong candidate who switch the loyalties from the BRS to Congress. Revanth feels that winning of at least 10 out of 17 seats was important for the party to prevent any political manipulations by the BRS or BJP after the Lok Sabha elections.