The TRS which won 56 seats in GHMC should have eight more seats apart from its ex officio strength of 38 members to stake a claim on the post of Mayor. The party cannot reach the magic figure even by including the two Congress members. Still, it will need six more members. They have to take either the BJP or from the MIM party. The party would have to face severe criticism if they take support from BJP at this juncture. This means that the party will have to depend on MIM only.
The BJP would also want this. During the Lok Sabha elections, while the BJP and Congress accused each other, they alleged that both MIM and TRS were one. During the campaign, KCR said that the BJP leaders were talking as if they were the only Hindus. He said that he was a more dangerous Hindu than the BJP leaders and also referred to them as Hindugallu Bondugallu. This led to controversy and the Congress party also joined them stating that the TRS and MIM were the same.
BJP leader Bandi Sanjay tried to provoke the TRS and MIM. Though the TRS was in control, the MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi made another controversial statement stating that the graves of PV Narasimha Rao and NT Rama Rao should be demolished. Expecting that these comments would lead to loss, KTR had said that the two crazy persons were talking irresponsibly. The atmosphere already got heated and the visit of the BJP’s national leadership added advantage to the BJP. This made the TRS write articles in news papers stating that KCR was also a real Hindu. The political analysts said that the TRS and MIM had fallen in the trap of the BJP leaders. The BJP took this to their advantage in social media even during the day of the poll.
Meanwhile, KCR who used to talk on regional issues changed his style of speech and spoke about a peaceful Hyderabad. He cautioned the people that the land value would decrease if TRS loses the election. He also gave the MLC posts to a few sections which were kept aside after the formation of Telangana.
The BJP knew that it was going to fall short of magic figures but it tried to focus only on projecting that the TRS and MIM were alike. The party did not talk about the growth of MIM in other states in the country. Now the party would not leave the TRS. If the TRS takes the support of MIM, the BJP would say, they have already told this. If the TRS takes BJP corporators, the party would raise this issue. It can be said that while KCR did regional politics for two decades, the BJP has selected another sentiment.
