Poll fight is like cricket, not tennis, says Manickam Tagore

HYDERABAD: Asking Telangana Congress leaders to put up a united fight, AICC in-charge of Telangana affairs Manickam Tagore cited the nation’s most popular sport, cricket, to explain his strategy. Stating that the State Congress consisted of strong leaders, he asked all of them to lead a united battle to defeat the TRS in the 2023 Assembly elections.

In his maiden interaction with senior leaders of Telangana Congress through a video conference on Wednesday, Manickam said it was unfortunate that Congress could not win from Telangana, a State for which Congress president Sonia Gandhi sacrificed another State (Andhra Pradesh) and also a major share of seats in Lok Sabha. “We have Sachins and Dhonis in our team. But we need to act as a team with discipline and mutual understanding. Our only target should be the 2023 Assembly elections. Do not see this as a tennis match, but as a cricket match where every player needs to play a role,” he said and asked every activist of the party to work hard to defeat Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

The AICC in-charge said he could not immediately travel to Hyderabad due to the pandemic and the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament. He said he would visit in the first week of October. He asked the TPCC to choose party candidates as early as possible for the Dubbaka by-election and also sought action on block committees in Greater Hyderabad, Warangal and Khammam corporations soon. He asked leaders to maintain restraint on social media. 

TPCC president and Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy said the candidate for Dubbaka would be finalised soon. The party would focus on enrolment of voters for Nalgonda, Warangal and Khammam Graduate Constituency for the MLC polls too.