With only one week left for campaigning to both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, major players in Telangana are reportedly getting worried a lot about securing the support of minority and settler voters in Telangana.
They are having a combined share of 35 per cent of the total electorate in the region with the ability to influence outcome easily in more than 10 out of 17 Lok Sabha constituencies and 70 out of the 119 Assembly seats in the T region.
Congress, TRS and BJP are competing with one another to share non-minority as well as non-settler Telangana vote by claiming credit for statehood while settler forums that had fought for Samaikhyandhra are working quietly to ensure mass voting of settlers to keep parties harmful to their interests at bay and obviously it is seen as TRS.
TDP is very much hoping to attract settler voters which is seen a viable strategy to counter Congress and also TRS while Congress is planning to retain the goodwill of Telangana protagonists and also secure settler voters with an assurance to protect their interests in Telangana. At the same YSRCP and Lok Satta are implementing their own strategies to woo the settlers.
YSRCP is generally seen as very weak in Telangana but sources now say the party has picked up a lot of momentum in Khammam region which is seen as formidable challenge to TDP-BJP partnership in the Khammam Lok Sabha constituency. More than 50 assembly segments across Telangana have good minority vote with more than 25,000 each including eight Lok Sabha constituencies where there are more than 1.5 lakh voters each which TRS is deliberately wooing while TDP-BJP alliance is running after settlers.
