NALGONDA: The political cauldron in Telangana is once again boiling over. The single question gripping the ruling Congress ranks is: Are bypolls now unavoidable in at least two Assembly segments?
Speculation has gathered fresh momentum after the Supreme Court, on Monday, pulled up the Telangana Assembly Speaker for the prolonged delay in deciding the MLAs disqualification petitions before him. The pressure is now mounting on the Speaker.
Buoyed by their emphatic win in the Jubilee Hills bypoll — a victory that has sent party cadres over the moon — Congress leaders are already bracing for the possibility of another electoral face-off.
Insiders say the leadership is keeping a hawk’s eye on the fast-evolving scenario. The talk in party corridors is unmistakable: bypolls for the two segments — Khairatabad and Station Ghanpur — may become inevitable, whether triggered by disqualification or prompted by the MLAs stepping down themselves.
Within the party, a debate is raging over the best strategy. A section believes that if the two MLAs — Danam Nagender (Khairatabad) and Kadiyam Srihari (Station Ghanpur) — resign of their own accord, the Congress would have a firmer footing in the ensuing battle. Leaders fear that if the MLAs are formally disqualified, seeking re-election afterwards may become a millstone around their necks.
Congress leaders confident of an encore
The Jubilee Hills victory is acting as a strong tailwind for the Congress. Party leaders are confident that they can pull off an encore if bypolls are indeed announced. With cadre morale soaring and organisational machinery humming, another election — far from being a burden — is seen as an opportunity to cement the party’s growing dominance.
If the MLAs choose to resign, bypolls must be conducted within six months. By then, local body elections — expected to be completed earlier — would no longer be a distraction.
Party strategists believe this timeline offers ample breathing room to regroup and mount a focused campaign in both constituencies.
Sources familiar with the Speaker’s proceedings say hearings for eight of the 10 defected BRS MLAs have been completed. Only the cases of Nagender and Srihari remain pending. While both were served notices earlier, they have reportedly not furnished their replies yet, further prolonging the impasse.
Meanwhile, both legislators are said to be taking the pulse of grassroots leaders — from booth-level workers to constituency coordinators — to gauge shifting ground realities. With a lot of water having flowed down the Musi since the 2023 Assembly elections, both men are keenly assessing whether the electoral winds still blow in their favour.
For Nagender, the situation is very delicate. His political trajectory has been under scrutiny ever since he switched sides and contested the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat as the Congress candidate, only to lose. Srihari, on the other hand, enjoys a mixed equation — he won as a BRS candidate, but his daughter contested and won the Warangal Lok Sabha seat on a Congress ticket, adding a complex layer to his political calculus.
The next two to four weeks may prove decisive. With the Supreme Court tightening the screws, the Speaker’s impending decision could well determine whether Telangana is headed for yet another round of byelections.
