Apart from blame games and often mudslinging, the poll battle invariably comes down to freebies, like it has in the run up to the Telangana Assembly Polls 2023. Where one of the key issues of electricity takes centrestage with political parties promising not just subsidized but free electricity to farmers.
Scheduled for November 30, both the ruling BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) and its principal rival Congress hope to leverage free power supply into votes. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao announced his initiative to provide free power supply to farmers for 24 hours a day during campaigning earlier in the month. Not to be left behind, while addressing a rally in Warangal, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too promised free electricity, apart from affordable gas cylinders to the state farmers. He also hit out at CM Rao on corruption and for controlling income-generating portfolios.
BRS does not provide power, we will: Congress
Congress party in the meanwhile has accused BRS, claiming that it does not provide 24-hour power supply. While campaigning earlier in the month, Congress state unit chief A Revanth Reddy went onboard to say that any of the Congress candidates would not contest the polls if KCR proved on record that there was 24 hours of supply to farmers.
With both parties promising free power supply round the clock, now both BRS and Congress claim that only their respective governments can do it. "Only a Congress government can provide free power to farmers, as it had done in the past. The BRS government cannot provide 24-hour free supply to farmers," added Reddy during a public meeting in Gadwal.
Challenge you check the power lines: BRS
Reacting to Congress claims, a day later on November 8, state power minister G Jagdish Reddy challenged the Congress party "to check the power lines anywhere in Telangana and see for themselves if there is electricity or not." He also said that unlike in Karnataka, farmers of Telangana were not protesting for lack of electricity.
CM K Chandrashekhar's son KT Rama Rao while addressing a presentation as a part of Trailblazer Telangana on Thursday said if the people wanted electricity or Congress. He also said that Karnataka celebrated Diwali in darkness due to power cuts. "Do you want electricity or the Congress? Even in sixty years the Congress could not achieve the development that the BRS has in the past nine years."
It's down to not just the freebie and convincing voters of the sincerity of the poll promise, it's down to confusing the voters about the insincerity of the other party.
