BRS counters Revanth Reddy’s remarks on vote nexus

Krishank argued that the Congress candidate would have lost if the BRS had not contested fiercely.

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi on Thursday came out fiercely countering Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s accusations that the BRS had aided the BJP to secure eight seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Telangana.

Strongly condenming the allegations, BRS leaders questioned the logic behind the Chief Minister’s argument, pointing out that if his allegations had any substance, the Congress would not have secured more than two to three seats.

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The party also countered his statement that the BJP secured more votes in Assembly constituencies won by the Congress in the recent Assembly elections.

Refuting Revanth Reddy’s allegations with statistics, BRS Social Media convener Manne Krishank said that in Mahabubabad, BRS had received 2.61 lakh votes, while the BJP secured 1.08 lakh votes.

He asked how an alliance with the BJP was possible in this scenario. Similarly, in Warangal, the Congress candidate won against the BJP by a margin of 2.2 lakh votes.

“If the BRS, which got 2.32 lakh votes, had indeed joined hands with BJP, the Congress could not have won,” he argued.

If there was a behind-the-curtains understanding between the BRS and BJP as alleged by Revanth Reddy, except for Nalgonda, Khammam and Mahabubabad, the Congress would not have won more than three seats, he said.

Citing another scenario, Krishank said the Congress candidate defeated his BJP rival by a majority of 2.2 lakh votes in Bhongir constituency. The BRS received 2.54 lakh votes here, again indicating no alliance with BJP.

In Nagarkurnool, the Congress won against the BJP by 94,000 votes, with BRS securing 3.19 lakh votes, just 40,000 votes fewer than the BJP.

Krishank argued that the Congress candidate would have lost if the BRS had not contested fiercely. The combined votes of BJP and BRS would be 6,92,001 in Nagarkurnool, easily surpassing the 4,65,072 votes polled for the Congress.

“The Congress and BJP, both the national parties, have created a narrative that Telangana does not need a regional party. But the country has seen from the results, from Tamil Nadu to Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal to Uttar Pradesh, how regional parties are important. We won’t bow down to the lies of the Congress and the BJP.

We will represent the people, question the Modi Guarantees as well as Rahul Gandhi’s guarantees,” he said, asking the Chief Minister to focus on governance rather than spreading falsehood.

Meanwhile, Telangana State SC and ST Commission former chairman Errolla Srinivas ridiculed Revanth Reddy’s allegations, stating that it was not BRS, but the Congress that ensured the BJP’s victory in eight seat by fielding dummy candidates.

He said the votes polled to BJP in Lok Sabha elections had in fact increased in the Chief Minister’s Kodangal constituency compared to the Assembly elections.

“The Congress got over 30,000 majority in Kodangal constituency in the Assembly elections, which declined to 22,000 in the parliament elections. In the Chief Minister’s native village of Kondareddypalli, BJP secured more votes than the Congress. If the Congress secured the majority votes it got in the Assembly elections, it would have easily won the Mahabubnagar parliamentary seat,” he said.

BRS leader Deviprasad said the people did not give good marks to the Congress rule of six months and hence, its votes had decreased enabling the BJP to win easily in certain constituencies. “If these elections were a referrendum to the Congress rule, the party has failed,” he said.