Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Hyderabad, the Congress installed puppets at prime locations in the city to show how he was pulling the strings of BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao as well as that of AIMIM chief Asauddin Owaisi while remaining in the background.

The Congress is running a strategic campaign harping that BJP, BRS and AIMIM were working together and the latest campaign on ground was an interesting one to drive home the same message.

It has been an effective one so far leaving a section of voters, particularly Muslim community wary. Under political strategist Sunil Kanugolu of the Congress has been running innovative ground campaigns including cleverly made spoofs where a KCR look-alike was seen riding in a pink car and asking villagers to vote for his party only to find them rebuffing him alleging corruption and non-fulfilment of promises.

At the end, all four tyres of his car were found to be punctured. The spoofs have resonated with the anti incumbency voters along with the party’s promise to implement the six poll guarantees. The puppets installed at the Hi Tech City junction and Begumpet are another instance of the party’s effective campaign.

It is not only the Congress which has accused the BRS and the AIMIM to be puppets in the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister in his public rally at LB Stadium last week had accused the Congress of being the ‘C team’ of the BRS while the ruling party’s working president KT Rama Rao has found the handprint of the BJP in the minority declaration of the Congress.

He found fault in the minority declaration of the Congress since it promised to conduct a caste census for BCs and bring the religious minorities under it. Rao said that in that case it would be a loss for both BCs and minorities as then the minorities department and commission will not be required any more nor will there be a separate Budget allotted for minorities. He reminded this was exactly what the BJP wanted.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi took a jibe at the BJP after its social media team depicted him as a Kazi performing the nikah of Congress and BRS wondering if he was the “dulah bhai” (brother-in-law) of everybody. He added in a lighter note that BJP was nowadays using his photographs instead of Narendra Modi to garner votes in Telangana.

Palvai Sravanthi quits Cong

Alleging that the Congress has turned into a “commercial organisation and a profit making entity” Palvai Sravanthi, who had fought the bypoll in Munugode today quit the party in protest.

She will join the BRS soon. Sravanthi who lost the deposit in the high voltage Munugode bypoll, which is considered to be the most expensive election ever, was miffed that Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy, who had quit the Congress for the BJP, was offered party tickets within 24 hours after returning.