HYDERABAD: The results of the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana came as a whiff of fresh air for the Congress which had been feeling suffocated after it had tasted a crushing defeat at the hands of the TRS in the Assembly elections in December last year.
The Congress, which had been lifeless, sprang a surprise by winning three seats. In fact, it was very close to winning Chevella too, but in the end it could not make the cut.
After the December drubbing in the Assembly elections and spiriting away of its legislators, the Congress leaders remained demoralised and were not interested in seeking election to Lok Sabha. Convinced there was no future in Congress, former minister DK Aruna even left the party and embraced the BJP to wrest Mahbubnagar. However, she could not succeed. Even TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy was not very enthused to fight LS elections, but when the party high command insisted, he had consented.
The Congress, which appeared to be not in the reckoning, suddenly sprang a surprise by trouncing its arch-rival TRS in Nalgonda, Bhongir and Malkajgiri.
TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, by winning from Nalgonda, played captain’s innings. Winning Nalgonda gave him his sixth consecutive electoral victory. He has won in the Assembly elections in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2018, and now, as an MP.
In Bhongir, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy won the elections. It was held by his brother Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy in the 15th Lok Sabha but after his election to the Assembly from Munugode in 2018, Venkat Reddy joined the fray and won the election.
In Malkajgiri, TPCC working president A Revanth Reddy pulled off a sweet revenge against the TRS by trouncing its candidate Marri Rajasekhar Reddy, son-in-law of minister Ch Malla Reddy.
There is now hope among the Congress leaders that the party’s fortunes would improve, going forward. Had there been better coordination among themselves, they could have won a couple of more seats, Congress leaders say. A bit of a stretch, though? Perhaps.
TRS’ worst fears come true in Bhongir segmentYadadri Bhuvanagiri:
The worst fears of TRS party leaders and cadre came true in Bhongir with pink party’s Boora Narsaiah Goud suffering a defeat at the hands of Komatireddy Venkat Reddy of Congress. Several of TRS MLAs had opposed the candidature of Narsaiah Goud but the party went ahead and gave the ticket to the sitting MP. There were tense moments throughout Thursday, for both the parties, as the contest went neck-to-neck, until Komatireddy Venkat Reddy was declared the winner with a margin of just 4,796 votes. While the Congress leader polled 5,32,031 votes, the TRS man managed to get 5,27,235 votes. While his own party cadre opposed Narsaiah’s candidature, creating divisions within the party, Venkat Reddy on the other hand had the good support of his colleagues as well as his younger brother Rajgopal Reddy, all of whom campaigned extensively in all the Assembly constituencies of Bhongir to ensure his victory