HYDERABAD: A report by political strategist Sunil Kanugolu highlighting the party’s diminishing influence in SC reserved Assembly segments has sent ripples in the Telangana Congress after it was presented during a crucial Political Affairs Committee meeting at the Gandhi Bhavan recently.
As per the report, Congress’s traditional strongholds in SC reserved segments have been weakening steadily. In the 2018 elections, the party lost 17 of these 19 Assembly segments. Historically, Congress had enjoyed a significant vote share among the SC community, but this appears to have eroded over recent elections, as indicated by the setbacks in 2014 and 2018. The report says that the root of the problem lies in the party’s failure to effectively allocate tickets based on community representation.
During the 2018 elections, the Congress allocated six Assembly seats to the Madiga sub-caste and another six to the Mala sub-caste, a move criticised for being a mere balancing act without considering ground-level sentiments. In contrast, the BRS allocated 12 seats to Madigas and six to Malas, a strategy that yielded good dividends for the Pink party. Interestingly, the vote share of Madigas in the State is 12% while Mala voters constitute about 6% of the voters.
Pointing at the imbalance in ticket allocation, Madiga leaders say that it has had adverse consequences for Congress in the last two and urged the party leadership to adopt a ticket allocation system based on population ratios within the SC community.
In the 2014 elections, the Congress allocated tickets according to specific sub-castes: Mala candidates contested from constituencies like Chennur, Choppadandi, Zahirabad, Vikarabad, Caontaonment, Achampet, Station Ghanpur Madira, and Sattupally, while Madiga candidates contested from Jukkal, Dharmapuri, Andole, Jukkal, Dharmapuri, Manakondur, Chevella, Alampur, Nakirekal, Tungaturthi, and Wardhanapet.
However, the party managed to win only three out of the 18 contested segments. On the other hand, BRS, accommodating nine Madiga and eight Mala candidates, secured victory in 14 out of 19 SC constituencies, with TDP winning two seats.
The discussions in Congress now revolve around accommodating the right sub-caste candidates in the constituencies dominated by the other sub-caste. Madiga leaders are appealing to the high command to carefully study the voting patterns and devise an equitable ticket allocation strategy for the upcoming elections.