RaGa’s yatra ‘Jodo-fies’ entire South Telangana

Hyderabad: All India Congress Committee (AICC) former President and Congress party senior leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in the months of October and November, 2022 in Telangana has not made significant impact in the Assembly constituencies that the yatra has been through and was able to win only fifty percent of the constituencies, wherein the yatra covered. Although most of the Congress leaders exuded confidence that yatra would make significant impact in the elections, it was witnessed only in rural areas of the State

Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra traversed through Telangana State in late October and the early November 2022. The yatra entered the State through neighbouring Karnataka’s Raichur into South Telangana’s Mahbubnagar district.

The yatra traversed through almost nearly 17-18 Assembly constituencies and seven parliamentary constituencies in the State. In the Assembly constituencies that the yatra covered there was a mixed result from voters to the party leading to sharp urban-rural divide in the State. The Congress swept the rural constituencies in Central and South Telangana which include erstwhile Medak, Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar districts where the yatra passed through.

In the Assembly elections results announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday, the Congress party swept the entire southern part of Telangana, especially undivided Mahbubnagar district. As the yatra entered passed through few constituencies in erstwhile Mahbubnagar district which include Jadcherla (Anirudh Reddy), Mahbubnagar (Y Srinivas Reddy), Makthal (V Srihari), Shadnagar (K Shankariah), Devarkadra (G Madhusudhan Reddy) and these are won by Congress. Similarly, it also won constituencies like Andole, from where former Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajnarsimha contested.

However, the Congress failed to make any substantial gains in the constituencies around Hyderabad city and its surrounding constituencies. For instance, Congress candidate Jagga Reddy, the sitting MLA from Sangareddy was defeated by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) candidate Chinta Prabhakar.

In the constituencies of Hyderabad, where the yatra passed through such as Goshamahal, Bahadurpura, Kukatpally, Patancheru, Serlingampally, Rajendranagar, Nampally, the Congress failed to win these seats. In fact, in some of the constituencies like Bahadurpura, Goshamahal, was reduced to distant third position, and in few constituencies, it emerged as a runner up.