Munugode bypoll has become stepping stone for BSP in Telangana political arena

On 1 November afternoon, when South First visited Munugode, a temporary office set up in a small shuttered shop by the BSP as its election office was empty. All the cadre was outside, campaigning in the run-up to the by-election.

When the polls were announced, there was neither an office nor any campaign, but the BSP had a candidate soon after, with a cadre working round the clock.

The party fielded Andoju Shankar Chary, a backward-community leader from the local Jangam village from the Narayanpur mandal, for the Munugode bypoll.

As the campaign moved forward, it became clearer that the BSP was here to leave a mark — perhaps not win the election but announce its arrival.

What the BSP groundwork looks like

In the last year, after resigning from his post in the Police Department and joining the BSP, former IPS officer and Telangana BSP chief RS Praveen Kumar has conducted hundreds of meetings in the state, mobilising thousands of people. Finally, when the opportunity came in Munugode, the party chose a candidate from the Backward Classes (BCs).

The constituency has a major chunk of BC voters — over 50 percent. None of the major political parties — the TRS, the BJP, or the Congress — fielded a candidate from the BC communities. All three parties fielded upper-caste candidates.

The caste sentiment, the BSP hopes, would pull some votes towards its candidate. “We are seeing the main contest between the upper-caste groups, even looking at the major caste groups in the constituency,” the BSP cadre in Munugode told South First.

RS Praveen Kumar was the secretary of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS), a residential school run by the Telangana government. He resigned from the post to join politics. Due to his work at the TSWREIS, Praveen Kumar has a good following in the state, especially within the Schedule Castes (SCs). Students graduating from the TSWREIS call themselves “Swaero” and are ardent supporters of RS Praveen Kumar.

Apart from the BC votes that will come its way because it fielded RS Praveen Kumar, the BSP hopes it will also gather support from elsewhere within the electorate in the constituency.

“RS Praveen Kumar doesn’t have any political baggage, and he is a clean bureaucrat who is known for his services to the Dalits and the Backward Classes. He enjoys huge popularity among Dalit communities. He can rekindle the Dalit identity. This identity consciousness can even withstand the free flow of money and other factors in this intense political battle,” political analyst Professor K Nageshwar told South First.

What other parties have to worry about

The Telangana government launched its flagship Dalit Bandhu scheme last year, before the Huzurabad byelection, to woo SC voters in the state.

While certain sections of the SC community are happy with the programme, RS Praveen Kumar, who is celebrated as a hero for the community, will impact the votes arithmetic.

Traditionally, the Madiga caste (SC) in the constituency votes for the Congress. Headlined by RS Praveen Kumar, the BSP is eyeing a considerable chunk of these votes from the Madiga community.

The BJP is mostly dependent on BC votes in the state in general and the Munugode constituency in particular.

Many leaders in the state unit of the BJP hail from BC communities, but the lack of BC candidates is a drawback for the party. Many BC leaders from BJP recently joined the TRS, making the latter stronger.

The BSP fielding a BC candidate has come as a move that could trump all other parties. The BSP, wth this move, hopes to garner a chunk of votes which would otherwise go to the other parties.

In a show of strength by the BSP, a Bahujan caste group rally was organised in Narayanapur in the Munugode constituency, where a good turnout of people was witnessed.

Friends, it’s an amazing public address in my political career. Wonderful rally by all bahujana caste groups in the political history of Munugode Constituency. We are going to make history.Kudos to all.#MunugodeWithBSP @RSPraveenSwaero @ramjigautambsp @BITCELL_BSP @BSP4Munugode pic.twitter.com/NXDKCSp3OU

— Andoju Shankara Chary (@Andoju) October 29, 2022

“While it is difficult to say which party going to be affected by the BSP’s presence, it is obvious that the BSP going to play a significant role to some extent in a head-to-head fight like the Munugode by-election,” said K Nageshwar.

Also, if the BSP candidate pulls 4-5 percent of the votes in an electorate of 2.41 lakh, it could decide the future of the BSP and its alliance prospects in the 2023 Telangana Assembly election.

It should be noted that the TRS lost the Dubakka byelection in 2020 by just around 1,000 votes.