Muslims appear to have voted en masse for the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) - BJP alliance.
Telangana, who are a dominant force in the 12 Assembly constituencies that went to polls on Tuesday, seem to have supported the TRS which had an alliance with the BJP.
The TRS had joined hands with the BJP by not fielding a candidate in the Nizamabad Urban constituency, where the APCC president, Mr D. Srinivas, tried his his luck again after losing to the BJP’s Mr Lakshminarayana in 2009.
Initially, the TRS chief, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao, announced that the TRS would have a “limited’ understanding” with the BJP that would be limited to Nizamabad. As the campaign progressed, however, Mr Rao shared dais with the BJP leader, Mr Ch Vidyasagar Rao, in Vemulawada, Dharmapuri and Sircilla, while others including the legislator, Mr G. Kishan Reddy, joined him in the campaign.
The Congress took advantage of this, assuring the Muslim community that it would continue to protect the community’s interests. The differences intensified when the TRS took the support of Muslims for granted in many constituencies. In Dharmapuri, Korutla, Vemulawada and Huzurabad, Muslims decided in the last minute to vote for the Congress. But in Sircilla, Muslims voted for the TRS candidate despite lack of any assurance from the TRS over its future alliance with the BJP.
“TRS is taking us for granted. The party has not even bothered to dispel our apprehensions over its relations with the BJP. Yet we will vote for a separate Islamic Telangana.” said Mr Ahmadulla, a tailor from Korutla. Educated Muslims made it clear that they would support the TRS as they are for a separate state.
In Nizamabad Urban, minority voters turned up in large numbers to polling booths since morning despite the Jagne ki Raat on Tuesday night.
As a result of Muslim voters who support the creation of Muslim-dominated Telangana, BJP candidate Y Lakshminarayana won for the second time from Nizamabad Urban in the recent bypolls, by defeating the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee President D.Srinivas.
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Hyderabad/D-Srinivas-on-a-sticky-wicket-in-Nizamabad/articleshow/6179061.cms
But Telangana does not find any mention in the whole speech of D.Srinivas. This looks a bit strange considering that his rival -- BJP candidate Yendala Lakshminarayana is fighting only on the Telangana plank, not on Hindutva plank.
Lakshminarayana, in fact, was the sitting MLA-elected in 2009. He vacated his seat for the sake of Telangana, necessitating the by-election. Though in this rich agro-based town, the T-cause strikes less resonance than in the rural hinterland, the T sentiment is not absent. "Everybody is united on the Telangana cause and with each passing day the sentiment is spreading," Lakshminarayana tells us in the course of a padyatra in the city bylanes. "Last time I won by 11,000 votes, this time we will win by 30,000," he says. An enthusiastic camp follower -- in sharp contrast to the state of affairs in the Congress camp, pipes in : "No, no, he will win by a bigger margin; the opponent will lose his deposit."
But what about the 50,000-60,000 odd Muslim votes, the minorities are surely not going to vote for a BJP candidate? this correspondent asks Lakshimnarayana. The determined candidate is unfazed. He says: "This time there is unity amongst all sections on the Telangana issue. They will vote for me." There are 2.4 lakh voters and in 2009 merely 96,000 had cast their franchise.
Analysts say that just because his opponent is a BJP man, Srinivas cannot take it for granted that the Muslims will vote for him. "It can be like 2009, when most of the Muslims abstained from voting. "If they feel that they are given a choice between the devil and the deep sea, they might not go to the polling booth," says a local analyst. He adds: "Srinivas does not have any equity with the voters whether Hindu or Muslims."
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http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/106651/India/congress,-tdp-joined-hands-to-defeat-telanganaism-bjp.html
The BJP on Sunday accused the ruling Congress and main opposition TDP of entering into a pact to defeat the "Telangana sentiment" in the coming byelections.
"Congress and TDP are bitter rivals. But they don't want Telangana sentiment to win. If sentiment is there, it will go against them. That is why TDP has fielded a non-Muslim candidate in Nizamabad though they initially wanted to field a Muslim candidate. This is what people of Nizamabad say," BJP National Secretary K Lakshman told reporters in Hyderabad.
The Congress reciprocated by fielding a "weak" candidate against strong TDP nominees in other seats, he claimed.
"Congress and TDP MLAs did not quit their posts in support of separate Telangana as decided by the all-party Joint Action Committee. Now, they want to defeat those who resigned for the sake of Telangana. They do not want 'Telanganaism' to be robust," Lakshman said.
But the electorate has seen through the designs of the two parties and "their bluff" would be called in the bypolls, he claimed.
BJP MLA from Nizamabad Urban constituency Y Lakshminarayana, who had quit his post, is the sole candidate of the saffron party who is in fray in the bypolls, that was held on July 27.
The BJP did not even contest the other seats. Why?
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http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/jul/30/kcr-demands-immediate-formation-of-telangana.htm
Referring to the victory of the BJP candidate Y Lakshminarayana in Nizamabad Urban constituency against the state Congress president D Srinvas, KCR thanked the Muslims for supporting even BJP candidate for the sake of Telangana.
"Without the support of our Muslim brothers and sisters, a BJP candidate could not have won. They have done it for the sake of Telangana and revived the spirit of communal harmony and composite culture, for which Telangana is known," he said.
