Why has Amit Shah changed his strategy with regard to Telugu states? All of a sudden, he has chosen TRS as the first priority to attack rather than TDP. A closer look at it reveals what a carefully calculated move it is. All said and done, religion always dominates public mood in Telangana considering their previous experiences under the Nizams regimes. BJP has a strong base among Central and North Indian settlers there.
Quite unfortunately, separate statehood washed away all other factors. KCR started dominating the scene by championing statehood cause. Now, scene has changed drastically. He won two elections consecutively. He can no longer use statehood cause in 2022 Jamili polls. Many sections of Telangana society are unhappy but KCR is winning thanks to his electoral gimmicks like having blessings from Minority voters with the help of MIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
Whereas, it is a different game altogether in Andhra. The voters are vertically divided along caste lines. Latest election proved that religion is also having its impact because one-sided Chrisitan vote bank has given historic victory to Jagan Reddy. BJP hopes to polarise Hindu voters here but there is the gigantic challenge of breaking strong foundations of TDP. Most BCs have loyalty towards TDP and they are mostly Hindus. Weighing all these aspects, BJP considers it easier to hurt KCR than Chandrababu Naidu.
