The event at Suryapet would have been a routine election rally addressed by top politicians. But for Union Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation Amit Shah announcing that if the BJP were voted to power in Telangana, it would make a Backward Class leader the Chief Minister.
This time around, the BJP has taken a calculated risk to boost its prospects in the no-holds-barred elections scheduled for November 30. At the same time, its announcement has also pushed the other contenders — the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and the Congress — on the defensive.
In tune with its focus on the BC communities, the party has given tickets to 20 candidates from these communities in its first list of 52 candidates. The Congress, on the other hand, has only 19 BC candidates between two lists announcing contestants for over 100 constituencies; only 22 of the 119 candidates of the BRS are from BC communities. Backward Classes constitute 52% of the total population of 3.82 crore in the State as per the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) data this year.
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