The echo from the poll noise made in the country’s western ghats is likely to be felt in the Deccan and all the way up to the eastern ghats. Just like river Tungabhadra which originates in Karnataka and leaves its footprints in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the latest poll results from the western neighbour have managed to impact the Telugu political terrain. In Karnataka, the Congress has won the majority defeating both the BJP and the JD(S) in the assembly polls. Following the course of the Tungabhadra which meanders into the Rayalaseema region right after leaving Karnataka, Andhra’s political situation will be assessed first before crossing over to Telangana.
Observing the elections closely with wide eyes were two regional parties—the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Jana Sena Party (JSP). The TDP is helmed by former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and JSP is headed by Telugu actor-politician Pawan Kalyan. Both parties have a BJP connection. While JSP has been in alliance with the saffron party for the last few years, the TDP has made positive overtures to the BJP in the recent past to formally side with it after it broke up from the NDA in 2018. At the same time, the TDP and the JSP are in the final stages of sealing a deal to work shoulder-to-shoulder in the upcoming state elections to be held next year along with general elections.
It was evident that the JSP and the TDP wanted the BJP on their team for a broader coalition to take on the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). With the resounding victory of the Congress in Karnataka, will Naidu continue to praise PM Modi or restrict his political adulation for now? The BJP doesn’t have a single seat in AP but the scramble to be in the good books of the national party is because the power it yields at the Centre. It has been learnt that the parties are in a wait-and-watch mode to see if the election marks the beginning of the downfall of the BJP and an upswing for the Congress. A lot will also depend on Congress's performance in the Telangana elections scheduled to be held later this year, which will decide if there will be a repeat of 2019 when the then CM Naidu shared stage with Rahul Gandhi to criticise Modi before the polls.
Moving on to Telangana, again, respecting the course of the Tungabhadra, the ripples here are of a different kind. For the state Congress, which has been left high and dry due to consecutive desertions and bypoll defeats, the victory in Karnataka is a morale booster. Resources and funding from across the border are some of the aspects, but a stronger Congress at the regional or national level will help the party restore its traditional voter base. The mood in the Telangana Congress camp is upbeat as they hope that at least the results will stop migrations to the BJP or the ruling BRS. A BJP defeat or victory in Karnataka wouldn’t make much difference to the state BJP which is desperate to nudge out the Congress as the principal opposition, but the same cannot be said about the Congress.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka victory is a worst-case scenario for the ruling BRS. The party’s loyal allies, the JDS and the Kumaraswamys, failed miserably in the polls. At the same time, the resurgence of the Congress is a direct threat to them in the context of the state elections where the grand old party is a formidable opposition when compared to the BJP which has only three seats. If the state Congress, with two groups of leaders participating in padayatras across the state, manages to emerge stronger from here, a hung Assembly in Telangana is also a likelihood. The BRS might glee at the prospect of BJP losing its sheen in Delhi, but there is also a lurking fear after the Karnataka elections that the enemy (Congress) may burgeon in the Deccan, their home turf.