Poll exam quite easy, BRS will smash a century, says Kavitha

Nizamabad, Nov 24 (PTI) Exuding confidence that the ruling BRS in Telangana will score a poll hattrick, K Kavitha, a senior party leader, on Friday said the 'exam looks quite easy to pass' on the back of its decade-long hard work.

The Bharat Rashtra Samiti will smash a century, said Kavitha, daughter of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, indicating that the party will cross the 100-seat mark in the 119-member State Assembly. Assembly polls in Telangana are scheduled to be held on November 30.

With KCR at the helm, the BRS (the then TRS) has been in power since 2014.

In an interview with PTI, Kavitha said there could be anti-incumbency in some pockets but people in general are not 'angry' with her party-Bharat Rashtra Samithi. For the BRS, the Congress is a distant challenge, while the BJP is nowhere in the state, she said, ruling out the possibility of a hung Assembly.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, BRS had won 88 seats out of 119, Congress 19, AIMIM six and BJP one seat. Twelve Congress MLAs later defected to the ruling party.

'We will get a century (this time)...the BRS has always been in the forefront. We have always consistently been among the people. The (poll) exam looks quite easy to pass as we have worked very hard,' Kavitha said. The BRS has been in power since 2014 and has won two Assembly elections in a row.

It is now eyeing a third straight term under chief minister KCR.

'There could be anti-incumbency in some pockets but anger is not there. People are not upset with the party,' Kavitha said. It is but natural to have anti-incumbency after ruling for 10 years, the BRS MLC added.

'Some people who have not got benefits from the schemes will simply say they are not happy and did not get the scheme. The next sentence would be 'ab nahi to kal mil jaayega' (if not now will get in future),' she said, adding that people have such sentiments towards the BRS.

Asked if people's high expectations may dent the party's prospects of return to power, she said, 'not at all.' There is nothing wrong if people have aspirations and expectations for a better life. In fact, the BRS has encouraged people to aspire and do more, she said.

For example, the welfare schools for backward communities and SC/STs are doing very well and some of the students are studying in IIT and IIMs, she said.

'We did try to meet the expectations of the people. All our welfare schemes are universal,' she said.

Asked why BRS is seeking votes on Telangana sentiments instead of development work, Kavitha said, 'the sentiment of a mother will last for a lifetime. The Telangana sentiment for BRS will last for a lifetime. It is not an election to election basis. It is an everyday sentiment...for us sentiments come first, followed by things we have done.' On the possibility of the spillover effect of Karnataka's Congress victory in Telangana, Kavitha said that it is helping BRS.

She alleged the grand old party came to power and suffered miserably in Karnataka, and failed to live up to the expectations of the people.

'They (Congress) have not been able to implement any of the six guarantees. We have been flagging it very seriously with everyone. Tomorrow if you cast your vote for them, they will fail again. This (narrative) is working in our favour,' she said.

She also dismissed reports that the BJP and BRS are having an understanding in some seats to ensure the Congress' defeat.

'We don't have any understanding with anybody. We have only one ally and friendly party, i.e. AIMIM. Other than (Asaduddin Owaisi-led) AIMIM, we have no understanding with anybody,' Kavitha asserted.

She also said the Congress is definitely a challenge for BRS in this poll but 'it's a distant challenge.' The BJP is not even in the competition as the party is not there anywhere in the state. It lost the deposit in 105 seats in the 2018 polls. 'This time it will lose even more,' she said.

On allegations that the BJP has become soft on the BRS in the Delhi liquor scam due to likely understanding between the two parties, Kavitha said, 'they have nothing to say. They have done everything. Now they want to come to a personal level.' Asked if the incumbent BJP MP from Nizamabad, Arvind Dharmapuri lost face here and was therefore contesting from the Korutla assembly seat, she said, 'he lost face on day one.' She alleged that Dharmapuri promised multiple things but he could not deliver.

'Not only a particular person, the BJP as a whole has lost the faith of the people of Telangana. They are not going to win anywhere in the state,' she said and added she would personally like to contest from the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency in the next elections. PTI LUX SA SS