After winning four of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, and engineering defection among four of the six Telugu Desam Party Rajya Sabha members, the Bharatiya Janata Party is now shifting gears in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, which together account for 42 Lok Sabha seats. 

The party strategy is to encourage defections of TDP and Congress top leaders belonging to Reddy, Kamma and Kapu communities, occupy vacant Opposition space and vie for power by 2024, a top BJP leader said. Attacks “Congress is diminishing at the Centre and Telangana, while TDP is deteriorating in Andhra, which provides us clear opportunity to occupy the political vacuum and contend for power in the two Telugu speaking states. 
 
R