Attack on Dubbak MLA candidate: BRS not sure whether it helps win election

The ruling BRS is now said to be in two minds over the fallout of the ‘attack’ on its Dubbak MLA candidate Kotha Prabhakar Reddy. The public response is mixed and the party could not get the mileage that it hoped to get from the incident. Both the Congress and the BJP have launched a powerful counter-attack in social media and called it a stage-managed act.

The BRS leadership is divided over the impact of the incident. One section feels that the attack will spawn sympathy for the party candidates not just in Dubbak but also in other neighbouring constituencies. They are all for actively using the issue to garner sympathy and votes for the party.

However, another section feels that the failure of the government to establish the motive of the assailant and also the inability to fix the blame on either the BJP or the Congress, have proved counter-productive. They feel that both the parties are dubbing this attack as a mere publicity stunt.

The BJP, which has a strong social media wing, and the Congress, backed by team Sunil Kanugolu, have used movie clips from films like Pokiri and Duryodhana to paint the attack as a drama. They are reminding that similar incidents were stage- managed in Delhi, West Bengal and AP during the elections to garner sympathy. They are also questioning as to why medical bulletins are not being released and why others are not allowed to call on the injured leader. On the whole, the BRS is now confused over the impact of the incident.