HYDERABAD: While both the BJP and Congress boast of a pan-India presence, these two parties are struggling to find in-charges for many Assembly constituencies in Telangana. Of the two, the Congress does not have in-charges who could pull their own weight in as many as 35 and the BJP in 85 Assembly constituencies in the State. A series of defections into the TRS and BJP has left the Congress reeling.
After the 2018 Assembly elections, 12 Congress MLAs joined the TRS while some other leaders joined the BJP. Along with sitting MLAs, constituency in-charges and a few aspirants also shifted from Congress to other parties, leaving it rudderless at the constituency-level.
In erstwhile Adilabad district, the Congress does not have strong in-charges in many constituencies like Boath and Mudhole who can inspire the party cadre. The party faces a similar situation in Armoor of erstwhile Nizamabad district and Warangal East, Station Ghanpur, Wardhannapet of erstwhile Warangal district.
The Congress is desperately looking for “strong” constituency in-charges in Karimnagar and Huzurabad of erstwhile Karimnagar, as well as Narsapur and Siddipet in Medak.In Hyderabad, the Congress does not have an in-charge for LB Nagar, Qutbullahpur and five constituencies in the Old City. Ironically, it retains a strong cadre-base in almost all constituencies in the State, barring some like the Old City.
For the BJP, the problem is even more acute since it was never in power in Telangana, or for that matter undivided Andhra Pradesh. In Karimnagar, except for Bandi Sanjay and Eatala Rajender, the party does not have a strong leader in the other constituencies. In Warangal, except in Warangal East and Bhupalapally, the BJP does not have strong in-charge in the other segments.
The same goes for Nalgonda where it has strong in-charges in only Bhongir, Munugode and Suryapet. In Khammam, the BJP does not have any notable leader as in-charge for a single constituency. In Mahabubnagar, except for Gadwal and Kalwakurti, it has failed to find a strong leader. A similar situation prevails for the party in Medak where sitting MLA Raghunandan Rao represents Dubbaka and the remaining segments are rudderless.
Nizamabad Urban, Armoor, Kamareddy and Jukkal are the only constituencies in Nizamabad where the party can boast of a strong leader. Likewise, the party has no strong leader in erstwhile Adilabad district except for Adilabad, Boath and Khanapur. In Rangareddy district, it has strong leaders only in Vikarabad constituency, as well as Goshamahal, Amberpet, Khairatabad and Uppal in Hyderabad.
Lack of leaders hurts both BJP and Cong
The lack of strong constituency in-charges is hurting both the BJP and Congress. Both these parties are likely to focus on disgruntled ticket aspirants in the TRS