Well over a year into power, the Congress faces headwinds in Telangana. If it managed to stand its ground in the Lok Sabha elections, the same ground beneath its feet seems to shake a bit when it comes to the state level. The results of the elections to three MLC seats, two from teachers’ and one from graduates’ constituencies, indicate as much. The BJP won two while the other went to an independent. The ruling party was not in the fray in the teachers’ constituencies, but the fact that one of them went to the saffron camp shows changing preferences among the influencers.
One may argue that these polls are too minor to take seriously. However, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, PCC chief Mahesh Kumar Goud and several ministers took the polls seriously enough to campaign vigorously, only to see their candidate lose to the BJP. Main opposition BRS’s tactical move to avoid the elections may have certainly helped the BJP—nonetheless, credit where it is due. Despite being relatively inactive since winning an unprecedented eight Lok Sabha seats, the saffron party can pat itself on the shoulder for keeping up its upward trend in the state. The impending cabinet expansion and polls for five MLC seats under the MLAs’ quota will add more headaches for the Congress.
Given the dime-a-dozen aspirants and the various caste equations at play, the party must get it right to prevent further turbulence. The increasingly obvious group politics and social justice factors have deterred the party from going in for a cabinet expansion, but it can no longer sit on it. It has the unenviable task of keeping the upper castes, as well as BCs, SCs, STs and minorities, in good humour, especially since it has been contemplating hiking reservations for BCs.
The appointment of Meenakshi Natarajan as state party affairs in-charge—the third in 1.5 years—shows the high command’s struggle to grapple with its Telangana leaders. Natarajan must ensure proper coordination between the party and government so the latter’s policies reach people’s doorsteps. More importantly, she needs to quell internal dissent and ensure unity. If not, as BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao claimed, his party need not do much to replace the Congress.