Resort Politics Heats Up? Plan to Shift Telangana Cong MLAs to B'luru Amid 'Sunday Success' Forecast

With most exit polls giving a clear edge to Congress over other parties, including the ruling Bharatiya Rashtra Samiti (BRS), in the recently concluded Telangana Assembly polls, the high command of the grand old party is likely to relocate its MLAs to another city to prevent poaching in case of a tight finish on December 3, when the election results will come out.

The party’s high command will take a call on relocating MLAs to Bengaluru or any other Congress-ruled state after the counting of votes on Sunday, according to a report by Times of India.

The move comes as the party will have to keep its flock together in case of a hung Assembly.

“If Congress falls short of the 70-seat mark, the proposal is to move legislators to Bengaluru or another location, possibly confining them to a hotel or resort,” TOI quoted a senior Congress leader as saying.

Congress Confident of 2/3 Majority

However, Telangana Congress president Revanth Reddy is confident of the party’s victory with a ‘two third majority’.

“Congress is going to get landslide victory this time and the same thing is reflected in the exit polls. We are going to get over 80 seats…There is a screening committee and a selection committee and then the Congress Working Commitee (CWC) has to take a call (on who will be the Chief Minister). In Congress, there is a process for everything. Being the PCC president, I will have to obey every order from the high command,” Reddy said after the exit polls prediction were out.

In the 119-member Telangana assembly, the magic figure to form the government is 60.

DK Shivakumar May Play Pivotal Role In Moving MLAs

In preparation, Congress has reportedly sent two coordinators to each constituency where the running candidate is likely to win.

These coordinators are tasked to move the winning candidates to undisclosed locations after they get their certificates from election officers. Later, all MLAs will be sent to Bengaluru in a convoy of cars, sources said, as per the report.

As per sources, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, who is credited for Congress’ victory in the neighbouring state, is expected to play a key role if MLAs need to be shifted. Shivakaumar has previously managed a similar situation successfully for Congress and Janata Dal (S)  in 2018 during the floor test in the Karnataka assembly.

Telangana Exit Poll Prediction

Most exit polls predicted an advantage for Congress in Telangana. While some pollsters foresee a narrow majority for Congress, others predict a clear victory.

While India TV-CNX forecast 63-79 seats for the Congress, 31-47 for the BRS, 2-4 for the BJP and 5-7 for the AIMIM, Jan Ki Baat forecast that the Congress would get 48-64 seats, the BRS would get 40-55, BJP 7-13 and AIMIM 4-7.

Republic TV-Matrize predicted that in Telangana, the Congress would get 58-68 seats, BRS 46-56, BJP 4-9 and AIMIM 5-7. TV9 Bharatvarsh Polstrat stated that the Congress would get 49-59 seats, the BRS would get 48-58, the BJP 5-10 and AIMIM 6-8. News 24-Today’s Chankaya gave a clear victory to the Congress by giving it 71 seats against 33 of the BRS and 7 of the BJP.