Telangana to vote on November 30; counting December 3

HYDERABAD: The stage is set for a no-holds-barred showdown ahead of the Telangana assembly elections, to be held on November 30 with the results being declared on December 3. The battle promises to be a triangular face-off between a well-entrenched Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), a resurgent Congress, and a determined BJP.

The stakes are high for all three parties with chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao eyeing a historic hat-trick of wins. While BRS is banking on its welfare schemes and the personal charisma of KCR, the BJP has leveraged the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Congress, meanwhile, is seeking to capitalise on the anti-incumbency sentiment in certain sections of the voters and a potential shift of minority votes from BRS to itself.

Political Analyst Professor K Nageshwar predicts an intense political battle marked by allegations and counter-allegations. "Given the high stakes, the state will likely be flooded with money and liquor for the next 50 days," he said. "The possibility of defections and sabotage is also high, especially among leaders who failed to secure tickets." The EC officials too have said that they will keep a hawk's eye on attempts to lure voters by the parties.

While BRS is first off the blocks by announcing candidates for 115 of the 119 constituencies, the opposition Congress and BJP are holding their cards close to their chests. While the Congress faces a problem of plenty - many contenders for each seat, the BJP has seen an unending tug-of-war within its own leaders. During his recent visit to Telangana, BJP national general secretary, B L Santosh, had told many of its reluctant senior leaders, including the four sitting Lok Sabha MPs, to fight the assemble elections.

The BRS is hoping for the first-mover advantage by also being the first to release its manifesto and also give out B-forms. KCR will release both on October 15.