BRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is on a spree of announcing Rs 1 lakh financial assistance schemes.
KCR recently announced BC Bandhu and Minority Bandhu schemes to extend Rs 1 lakh financial assistance to Backward Classes (BCs) and Minorities for a self-employment scheme.
KCR announced that this amount will be given as a complete grant from the government, and there is no need for beneficiaries to repay it later.
So far, so good. But why is KCR launching all these schemes all of a sudden, especially at a time when Assembly polls in Telangana are scheduled in another three to four months?
Political circles say that by doing so, KCR is reminding people of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who launched the "Pasupu Kumkuma" scheme for women, crediting Rs 10,000 in bank accounts just before the 2019 April Assembly polls in AP.
After various surveys clearly indicated severe anti-incumbency against the TDP government in AP and that YSRCP would come to power in the 2019 Assembly polls, Naidu made a last-ditch effort to save his power by launching cash transfer schemes just before the polls.
Even after crediting Rs 10,000 in bank accounts, women and other sections in AP rejected TDP outright and gave a bumper majority to YSRCP in the Assembly polls. YSRCP won 151 seats out of 175, while the TDP got just 23 seats.
In Telangana, most of the surveys done by various agencies clearly indicate that BRS will lose power in the upcoming Assembly polls.
To woo voters from various sections, like Chandrababu, KCR too seems to be making last-ditch efforts to save his power.
Let's see how Telangana voters respond to KCR's last-minute schemes before polling.