THE DECCAN CHARGE

BJP IN THE SOUTH

- Amarnath K. Menon

If there is one fortress the BJP has so far had no luck breaching, it's the country below the Vindhyas, save Karnataka. Come 2023, and another possibility will open up, in Telangana. Telangana Rashtra Samithi supremo K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) had for a while been nurturing national ambition. But from the looks of it, he has enough on his plate to keep him on home turf. For one, there's anti-incumbency-a natural outcome of having been at the helm since the reorganisation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. And now, smelling blood, the saffron side has been steadily amping up its decibel levels. The choice of Hyderabad as the venue for the recent meeting of the BJP national executive was part of that, as was the decision to hold the 'vijay sankalpa sabha' rally on July 2 and 3 in the Nizam's city.