HYDERABAD: The BRS has suffered a major setback in the coal belt, which was its stronghold since the days of the Telangana movement. The party won just one out of 11 seats in the area, letting the Congress wrest the remaining 10 seats, which is a bad omen as it came ahead of Lok Sabha elections next year.
The people of this area, who work in coal mines, took an active part in the Telangana movement and Singareni bandh was called during the struggle for a separate state.
On the other hand, winning 10 seats in the coal belt from Adilabad to Khammam has come as a shot in the arm for the Congress. The party workers are in an upbeat mood and are ready to go in for the kill in the Lok Sabha elections.
Former AICC president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi launched the election campaign from the Singareni area, which sowed the seeds for the party to send up green shoots in the territory that was originally the domain of the BRS.
The Congress won Bellampalli, Mancherial, Chennur, Manthani, Ramagundam, Peddapalli, Bhupalapally, Kothagudem (alliance), Sathupalli and Mulugu. The BRS won only Asifabad. In the 2018 elections, the Congress won only Manthani and Mulugu seats.