In the state of Andhra Pradesh, the two major political parties, TDP and YSRCP, have opted to abstain from participating in the Telangana Assembly elections. This move has led Telangana’s Chief Minister, K. Chandrashekar Rao, to shift his attention towards Karnataka.
In Karnataka, the Congress currently holds power, and issues such as providing electricity to farmers and a recent incident involving a forged letter from Karnataka’s deputy chief minister, urging Foxconn to relocate to Bengaluru, have become prominent talking points among rural gatherings and urban tea stalls alike.
The separation of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh in 2014, following a prolonged dispute over perceived mistreatment by Andhra politicians, gave rise to a strong pro-Telangana sentiment, with KCR’s TRS party winning 63 out of 119 contested seats, securing a 34.3 per cent vote share.
In the 2018 Telangana Assembly elections, N. Chandrababu Naidu, then the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, filed legal petitions concerning water and asset distribution with Telangana and aligned with the Congress before the polls. This move further stoked anti-Andhra sentiments, resulting in the TRS winning 88 seats with a 46.9 per cent vote share.
Since the Congress’s victory in the Karnataka Assembly elections in May, the political dynamics between Karnataka and Telangana have evolved. The intensifying rivalry between the two states has been fueled by the Congress’s hope of winning Telangana, combined with the TDP and YSRCP’s decision to sit out the Telangana Assembly elections.
While the sentiment related to Andhra occasionally comes up, particularly during visits to the Andhra-Telangana border regions, it is no longer the central focus of the campaign. Rather, discussions in Telangana politics now revolve around any repercussions or protests against the government in Karnataka. Recent incidents, such as protests by farmers in Karnataka demanding a stable power supply and the Income Tax Department seizing cash from a contractor in Bengaluru, have reverberated in Telangana.
The most recent controversy involves an alleged fake letter from Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar, supposedly urging Foxconn Hyderabad to move their Apple manufacturing unit, which is under construction, to Bengaluru. This letter has circulated widely in political circles.
K.T. Rama Rao, Telangana’s IT Minister and the son of KCR, has emphasized the essential role of K Chandrashekar Rao’s leadership in safeguarding Telangana’s interests, using the D.K. Shivakumar letter as an example. It is evident that even with Andhra regional parties stepping back, the BRS (formerly TRS) continues to champion the Telangana sentiment.
