Congress gets set for poll vault

​Hyderabad: As only 47 days are left for the campaign to the Telangana Assembly election for which polling would be held on December 7, the Congress is getting ready to step up the activity from Saturday. AICC president Rahul Gandhi would participate in three public meetings in the state from afternoon to evening on Saturday. He would address people at Bhainsa of Adilabad district, Kamareddy and Charminar.

Campaign Committee chairman Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka would embark on a statewide campaign from next October 22. Party senior leader V Hanumantha Rao has taken up second round of campaign through his motor chariot Indira Vijaya Ratham.

The Campaign Committee is likely to meet on Sunday and would prepare the schedule for the next round of campaign. It would also discuss the leaders to be involved. The Congress is planning to hold a public meeting with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi as the main speaker at Warangal or Karimnagar this month. It has requested the high command to fix her programme on October 27 or 28. According to party sources, Rahul Gandhi would visit the state once again before or after Sonia Gandhi's visit.

By inviting Rahul Gandhi for Rajiv Sadbhavan Divas in Hyderabad on Oct 20, the Congress party is making serious efforts to gain entry into the Old City of Hyderabad in next Assembly election. With the participation of Rahul in the Sadbhava Yatra Commemoration Day event at historic Charminar, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N Uttam Kumar Reddy has played master stroke by sending a strong message that the Congress party was quite serious about elections in the Old City. Except for Goshamahal, Congress had almost negligible presence in six other constituencies, including Malaket, Karwan, Charminar, Chandrayangutta, Yakutpura and Bahadurpura.

According to sources, Uttam Kumar Reddy got several surveys done in the Old City to understand the people's pulse. The findings of surveys were quite encouraging and also shocking. The basic analysis of electoral statistics revealed that the MIM lacked any huge mass support as it claims to enjoy in the Old City.

The polling percentages in all seven seats ranged from 47 per cent to 56 per cent or an average of 52 per cent. Therefore, almost 48 per cent of people in Old City never voted. Further, on an average, MIM got just 30 per cent of actual votes to win six Assembly seats in the Old City.

The survey done by the Congress chief also revealed that the MIM’s popularity graph was on the decline. It was first noticed in the GHMC elections of 2016 when the Congress party, for the first time in history, campaigned aggressively against the MIM.

Although the MIM won 33 wards, it got one lakh less votes than what it got in General Elections 2014. Compared to this, the performance of Congress party had improved in the Old City with an increase in its vote share in Malakpet, Charminar, Yakutpura and Bahadurpura Assembly segments.

Another analysis on the MIM's performance in the GHMC elections revealed that the party actually had the support of just 19 per cent of voters in the Greater Hyderabad while remaining 81 per cent either voted for other parties or did not vote at all.