HYDERABAD: While it went to battle saying that the General Elections are a referendum on its first 100 days in power in Telangana, the Congress fell short of its ambitious “Mission-15”. Despite its high-decibel campaign and a plethora of promises, the party managed to win only eight seats in Telangana, falling well short of its goal.
The election results were particularly disappointing for the Congress in several key constituencies. The party lost the Mahbubnagar seat, the home constituency of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, as well as Malkajgiri, which he represented in the outgoing Lok Sabha. This setback was even more glaring in view of the Congress-led INDIA bloc performing better in other parts of the country.
The Congress strategy of fielding BRS turncoats and other party leaders didn’t work in its favour. The Congress fielded sitting BRS MLA Danam Nagender, sitting BRS MP Gaddam Ranjith Reddy, incumbent ZP chairperson from BRS Patnam Sunitha Reddy, Neelam Madhu who unsuccessfully contested for the Assembly on BSP ticket), rights activist Atram Suguna and Velichala Rajender. With the Congress being defeated in nine of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state, questions on the selection of candidates have been raised.
However, the Congress managed to win SC-reserved segments Peddapalli and Warangal, where the contestants joined the party from the BJP and BRS respectively. The popularity and political lineage of these young entrants may have worked in their favour.
Congress veterans are now pointing fingers at the candidate selection and opining that the party could have won more seats if it had fielded the right candidates in some of these segments.
“In Chevella, G Ranjith Reddy was facing anti-incumbency as he was the sitting MP. Our party not just inducted him, but fielded him from the same segment and it didn’t work out,” a senior Congress leader said on condition of anonymity.
TPCC chief’s best efforts go in vain
Revanth represented Malkajgiri in the outgoing Lok Sabha
Mahbubnagar is his native constituency
CM campaigned extensively for Ch Vamshi Chand Reddy in Mahbubnagar, addressing six public meetings and conducted roadshows
Allegations against DK Aruna and the BJP of attempts to destabilise the government fail to sway voters
Revanth even convinced former BJP MP AP Jithender Reddy to join the Congress fold
Aruna wins the Mahbubnagar seat for the BJP, the second time the saffron party won the segment
Revanth’s efforts too failed to pay off in Malkajgiri where Eatala Rajender wins