SANGAREDDY: ongress cadre and grassroots-level leaders are bitterly criticising the party leadership for the whitewash it suffered across all municipalities under the Patancheru Assembly constituency in the recent elections. They attribute the defeat to utter negligence and a lack of seriousness on the part of their leaders in the run-up to the polls.
“In an open challenge to the Congress, MLA G Mahipal Reddy vowed to ensure the victory of BRS candidates in the five municipalities. However, the party leadership failed to take the matter seriously. As a result, even in places where the Congress had a strong chance of winning, it suffered setbacks due to the influence of Mahipal Reddy,” lamented a party leader on condition of anonymity.
“The situation was so dire that the party could not even safeguard its own councillors, let alone attract Independents. District in-charge Minister Vivek made a brief visit, while Health Minister Damodar Rajanarsimha, who hails from the district, paid little attention to the Patancheru constituency. As a result, the BRS MLA was able to assert complete dominance,” commented another Congress leader.