The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to create Hindutva sentiment in the state similar to that prevailed during the Telangana agitation, while the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) was forced to play soft Hindutva to counter the saffron party’s moves.

Accordingly, TRS leaders in Adilabad have been organising religious programmes. On Monday, TRS MLAs participated in the ‘Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra’ here. In fact, local MLA Jogu Ramanna had recently participated in a
programme related to the inauguration of the RSS building in Adilabad town.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, however, is trying to rekindle the Telangana sentiment among people by raising the issue of ‘injustice’ being meted out to Telangana by the BJP-led Central government. Unlike in the past, the youth are being attracted to the BJP and its ideology and joining its frontal organisations such as the Hindu Vahini and the Bajrang Dal. This trend has reflected in youngsters from rural areas in Telangana attending the BJP’s Vijay Sankalp Sabha, held in Secunderabad Parade Grounds on Sunday, in large numbers.



The growing base of the frontal organisations has indirectly helped the BJP to spread its wings among the people and get strength in the state. A leader of Tamsi mandal, who was earlier associated with the TRS, said the youth and unemployed who are mostly subscribed to the Hindu ideology and the youth, who were vexed with the TRS rule, are convincing their parents and villagers to vote once for the BJP this time as they hope to get jobs under the BJP dispensation.

It may be recalled here that university students and unemployed youth had supported the TRS and voted for its candidate against the Congress and the Telugu Desam in the elections during the Telangana agitation with the hope
that they will get jobs if the Telangana state was formed.

The TRS leaders forced the Congress, TD, and BJP leaders, MLAs, MPs, and ministers through its JACs and university student wings to support the Telangana agitation and resign from their posts in support of the statehood demand. The TRS, thus, got the ‘credit’ of leading the Telangana agitation from the front. Now the BJP is creating the same situation through its frontal organisations in the villages.