Bigwigs' win lifts Congress morale in TS

Hyderabad: Fielding the seniors in the Lok Sabha elections and the developing disenchantment with the ruling TRS has made the state Congress to cheer about something.

After the announcement of the Parliament elections results on Thursday, smile was back on the faces of the leaders of the State Congress as not only they have won three seats but also its main rival TRS suffered major setback.

The Congress won Malkajgiri, Nalgonda and Bhongir Parliamentary constituencies and lost Chevella and Zaheerabad seats with narrow margins. In rest of the constituencies the party stood in third place.

The TRS lost two seats when compared to the previous polls. The TRS which boasted that it would win 16 seats was made to content with just nine.

The BJP won four seats and eroded the support base of the ruling party in north Telangana. The Congress senior leaders Revanth Reddy won from Malkajgiri, N Uttam Kumar Reddy from Nalgonda and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy from Bhongir Parliamentary constituencies.

The party was able to protect its old bastion- Nalgonda by winning two seats in it comfortably. However, the party was disappointed with defeat in Khammam district where if fared well in the Assembly polls.

As per the results of the Assembly polls being held in 2018, the Congress expected to win Mahabubabad, Bhongir and Khammam PCs. However, it lost Mahabubabad and Khammam.

The party leaders were happy with the win of its senior leaders Revanth, Uttam Kumar and Venkat Reddy. They said that the trio would be able to protect the Congress from the onslaught of the ruling TRS.

Giving reasons for the win of the Congress in three seats and better performance in other two seats, the party leaders said that the arrogance of TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao has helped the party to regain its lost ground.

The people detested the TRS's bid to encourage defections from the Congress. They said that though the TRS won hands down victory in the 2018 Assembly elections, it was unable to repeat the same.

It has failed in implementing the promises it had made in the previous Assembly elections though six months have gone by.

It also failed to address the issues being faced by the farmers and other sections of society. The magic of the Rythu Bandhu scheme which yielded rich dividends to the ruling part is on the wane.

The TRS won 88 seats in the Assembly polls and according to this they should have won at least 12 seats. However, they have content with nine seats, Congress leaders said.

The Congress leaders said that after the win in the Assembly polls, the TRS started to face setbacks. It lost the MLC polls from the Graduate and Teachers constituencies.

Apart from this, Congress' strategy to field seniors in the Parliament elections also led for the win of three seats. Though the senior leaders were not interested to contest, they were forced to enter the fray.

Party fielded PCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy in the last minute. It also fielded Komatireddy Venkat Reddy from Bhongir though he was not ready. But this tactic fetched some dividends to the party.

The Congress leaders said that the TRS' defeat in seven PCs would control the aggression it has been showing in the past few months. The results proved that the Congress is a force to reckon with and enjoys the popularity among the people.

This would force few leaders who have left the party to return. The MLAs who have joined the TRS would have to think again about their future and it may not be a surprise if they return to the old camp.