Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday said Telangana could witness a major expansion in political representation after the next delimitation exercise, with assembly constituencies increasing from 119 to 182 and Lok Sabha seats from 17 to 26.Revanth attributed the possible increase in seats to the BJP-led Centre’s apparent determination to push ahead with the long-pending delimitation exercise. He said the political strategies being pursued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah across the country indicated that the BJP had the numbers and intent to get the delimitation bill passed, paving the way for a significant increase in Telangana’s assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies.Addressing a large gathering, mostly comprising farmers, after releasing the final tranche of Rythu Bharosa assistance for the current Kharif season in Chintakani mandal of Khammam district, Revanth said: “Going by the way PM Modi and Amit Shah are moving forward with their strategies in various states, and allegedly engineering a split in Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, the BJP has the scope of getting the delimitation bill passed in Parliament this time.”Revanth said the state could gain 63 assembly seats and nine additional Lok Sabha constituencies. He said the Congress was well-positioned to capitalise on the expanded electoral map and expressed confidence that the party would return to power by winning 117 of the projected 182 assembly constituencies and 20 of the 26 Lok abha seats in the state.The chief minister said the next elections could take place in May or June 2029, and not in Dec 2028. “Let us ensure victory in 20 out of the 26 parliamentary seats in Telangana in the upcoming elections and make Rahul Gandhi the prime minister,” Revanth said.Projecting the Congress govt as welfare-oriented, the chief minister said the administration would continue to expand benefits for various sections of society and made the gathering repeat the slogan “Aur ek baar, Congress sarkar” with him. The chief minister also indicated that he would meet AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi after July 20.Recalling his prediction before the 2023 assembly elections, Revanth said he was equally confident about the outcome of the next polls. He described the next assembly elections as a ‘Kurukshetra’ battle between the Congress and the BRS and asserted that his party would decisively defeat its political rival. He also promised to usher in what he described as “Rama rajyam” in Telangana.Targeting the BRS, Revanth accused the opposition party of circulating misleading survey reports predicting Congress’ defeat. “The opposition party resorted to malicious propaganda claiming that Congress would lose based on a fake survey. When similar claims were made in Jubilee Hills, the people dealt a crushing blow to the BRS by defeating it and giving nearly a 25,000 vote majority to the Congress. The BRS survey teams are likely the marriage musical bands who play the tunes we like or tell them,” he said.The Chief Minister also renewed his attack on BRS president and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, alleging that the BRS leadership had become politically irrelevant and asserting that the Congress would not rest until it defeated the party in the next electoral contest.Revanth further defended the govt’s position on the Medigadda barrage controversy, responding to demands made by BRS leaders KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao. “The temple town of Bhadrachalam along with 40 villages and even Sita Ramachandra Swamy temple of Bhadrachalam will be washed away if water is released from the damaged Medigadda barrage. The threat of submergence of 44 villages in Khammam district was already anticipated. The BRS has no answer when asked if Medigadda had to be filled just for the sake of your wicked politics,” he said.
