With the Telugu Desam Party seriously campaigning against the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Telugu speaking areas of Karnataka, the latter seems to have invoked the former’s rival YSR Congress party for counter-campaign.
Hitherto, the YSRC was nowhere in the picture in Karnataka, though the TDP leaders are openly visible in several parts of the state.
Like in Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu voters in Karnataka too are divided between the TDP and the YSRC. But since the YSRC remained neutral in Karnataka polls, these voters are seriously polarised against the BJP on the special category status issue.
Apparently knowing this, the BJP is learnt to have started taking YSRC president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy’s name to counter TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu who openly called upon Telugu voters of Karnataka not to vote for the BJP which had done gross injustice to the Telugu states by not granting special category status.
Actor and BJP candidate for Karnataka’s Bagepalli constituency Sai Kumar called upon the Telugu voters not to believe the TDP, but YSRCP chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy who was more insincere towards the special category status.
He said if the BJP was voted to power in Karnataka, he would prevail upon the Centre to extend the status to AP.
Sai Kumar lashed out at Naidu for taking the BJP for a ride with his sudden U-turn on the special status issue. On the other hand, Jagan had all along maintained only one stand and did not resort to any flip-flop, he said.
He said Jagan’s unflinching stand that special category status alone can put AP back on rains has earned him lot of support.
He said that it was wrong on the part of the TDP to think that the people will support them if they raise the same issues that Jagan has raised.
