SANGAREDDY: On December 11, the day votes were counted, the Indian National Congress was nearly wiped out in erstwhile Medak district. Only Sangareddy MLA-elect T Jayaprakash ‘Jagga’ Reddy was able to survive the Telangana Rashtra Samithi onslaught. Senior leaders like J Geeta Reddy, Damodar Rajanarsimha and V Sunitha Reddy put up embarrassing performances. A few days after the initial shock, party members began trying to understand the reasons.
Non-local disconnect
Damodar Rajanarasimha (Andole) and J Geeta Reddy (Zahirabad) have businesses based in and around Hyderabad, where they usually stay most of the time. Party sources say this led to their disconnection from ground realities. “People chose local leaders instead of Geeta Reddy and Rajanarasimha,” says a party workers. But both these leaders were giants on the political landscape, how could they lose? “It didn’t matter,” he says, “look at Jagga Reddy. He won Sangareddy in spite of the fact that he is not as rich as Geeta Reddy, Rajanarsimha or Sunitha Reddy. The people were simply against them.
Curious case of Rajanarasimha
Over at Andole, Damodar Rajanarasimha’s name does not get good reactions from Congress workers after he he has become infamous for his ‘bad behaviour’ and impatience.
“A leader can afford to ignore the people on normal days; no one will care. But during election time, it affects them in a major way. What did Rajanarasimha expect? He could win without talking to anyone,” asks a local Congress leader. As for Sunitha Reddy “She didn’t spend enough money,” he says.