New-found zest in Congress to take on BRS

Will Khammam meeting give the much-needed impetus to the Congress party in the state to defeat the BRS party in the next Assembly elections? Can TPCC give a repeat performance of what Karnataka PCC has achieved? Will the padayatra of Bhatti Vikramarka kindle the necessary fire to defeat the ruling party?

Well, these are the questions that arise from the Khammam meeting. The Congress party did succeed in organising a mammoth meeting at Khammam despite initial hurdles they faced in organising it. Rahul Gandhi’s brief speech, though not so power-packed, has given an indication of the line the party would take in the days to come when poll campaign gets more and more intensified.

Rahul did not mince words in taking on the BRS party and the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and gave his explanation of why TRS changed its name as BRS. He took a dig at it, saying it had now become ‘BJP Rishtedar Party’ and that its remote was in the hands of Modi government.

The party, which had announced Rythu declaration (farmers declaration) at Warangal and Youth declaration at Hyderabad, promised that senior citizens and widows would get Rs 4,000 pension. It appears the party is targeting this section along with the farmers and the youth as well as tribals to defeat the BRS at the hustings.

Rahul Gandhi stated that the Congress had opposed tooth and nail extending an invitation to BRS for the opposition parties meeting in Delhi and later at Patna and vowed that it would never have any truck with the pink party. It reflected the anger the party has been nursing since formation of Telangana State at KCR who had then promised to merge the party with Congress if statehood was granted.

The Congress party has also been unhappy that all-out efforts were made by the then TRS to decimate the grand old party from the state. In fact, till recently, an impression had gone around that there would be a triangle fight and that BJP had gained ground in the state. But as Rahul put it, BJP seems like a car stuck on highway with all four tyres going flat.

How far the state Congress leaders will be able to maintain the unity they displayed on Sunday remains to be seen. If they can stay united, and even succeed in micromanagement during polling, the party has a good chance to emerge as a major force. If the anti-incumbency is certainly high at the ground level, it may even spring a surprise as in the case of Karnataka. But as of now they are sure to become number two party.

It also remains to be seen what the BJP would do to spring back and whether it really wants to gain ground in Telangana, or it is merely shadow boxing with the BRS. The July 8 meeting to be addressed by PM Modi will give greater clarity on this issue. There is a possibility of Modi deciding to go in for simultaneous polls in Telangana, MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and some other states which are due for polls. Of course, this requires some constitutional amendments. However, one thing is clear that the real drama has begun, and voters will have many more interesting episodes to witness, including direct cash transfer benefits in the days to come.