Telangana polls 2023: Hit by anti-incumbency K Chandrasekhar Rao set to lose state; trails in Kamreddy constituency

KCR, who had been aiming to create a third front in a bid to counter the BJP's persistent attacks, appears to have been hit by anti-incumbency. His loss is bigger, especially as he had been hoping for a hattrick and is trailing in Kamareddy, where he is up against the young state Congress chief Revanth Reddy.

However, he is leading in the Gajwel constituency, which is his stronghold. He was ahead of BJP's Eatala Rajender by over 3,000 votes, while Congress's Thoomkunta Narsa Reddy was in third place.

In the 2018 Assembly election, KCR emerged victorious in Gajwel with a huge lead, garnering over 125,444 votes and securing a 60.45 percent vote share.

The Congress is on track for a sweeping victory in Telangana, where Rao, a two-time Chief Minister, had the unquestioned support of the people for a decade. But now, Telangana appears ready for a change.

The change in sentiment was partially attributed to corruption allegations against Rao and other senior party leaders.

The situation worsened for the party when Prime Minister Narendra Modi remarked that Rao had attempted to join the NDA but was rejected, dealing a major blow.

For Congress, winning Telangana would bolster its position in southern India, with Karnataka already in its kitty.

According to political analysts, the Congress capitalised on the momentum, alleging a close association between the BRS and the BJP.

It pointed out that the difference in treatment meted out to K Kavitha, KCR’s daughter, and leaders of Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party, underscoring that she had not been questioned or arrested by Central agencies, despite her alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor scam.

Over the past decade, Rao nurtured national ambitions. He tried to build a nexus with various Opposition leaders, such as Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik.

Despite the failure of his attempts to forge a coalition that excluded both the Congress and the BJP, he persisted.

All along he had maintained a safe distance from the Congress even as the Opposition solidified the INDIA coalition.

He tried to align himself with Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav—leaders known for their critical stance towards the Congress.

Further, the renaming of his party Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), apparently indicated a shift in its focus from Telangana to Bharat.

This shift raised questions, with many expressing doubts about its resonance with the people of the emerging state, considering that the TRS came into existence when Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh, following a movement spearheaded by KCR.