In Telangana, ‘dark horse’ Cong buoyed by TRS anti-incumbency
HYDERABAD: The Congress might be on a campaign blitzkrieg in poll-bound Telangana but, ironically, it was a strongly billed Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) rally that buoyed its morale .
A few months ago, the Congress’s prospects in Telangana were bleak with political pundits not holding out any hope for the party. It seemed to be a déjà vu moment for the party, which had bitten the dust in the last assembly polls despite being a prime proponent of the creation of Telangana. However, suddenly the picture has changed -- the Congress has managed to bring itself back in the reckoning with the TRS losing some of its sheen.
The party sensed a renewed opportunity when the TRS failed to bring the promised 2.5 million people to the “mother of all rallies” at Kongara Kalan on the outskirts of Hyderabad on September 2, four days before chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao — popularly known as KCR — dissolved the assembly on September 6.
“It turned out to be a flop show,” said film star-turned-politician and Congress leader, M Vijaya Shanthi. “We figured out that the people have lost confidence in KCR and are no longer ready to trust him,” she said.
The factors that contributed to the Congress’s resurgence were the overconfidence of KCR in dissolving the assembly six months before schedule and the simmering-beneath-the-surface anti-incumbency against a large number of TRS legislators.
KCR had taken the dissolution decision based on an assessment that there is “tremendous goodwill” for the TRS with internal surveys predicting 100 of the 119 seats for the party.
He also did not want simultaneous elections to the assembly and the Lok Sabha – due in mid 2019 -- given that national issues could have a bearing on the outcome of the state polls.
He wanted enough room to manoeuvre during the Lok Sabha elections, which would enable him to take a call on joining any alliance.
Will the decision prove costly for KCR? Political observers think the Congress might just turn out to be the dark horse -not because of its own efforts but due to the “blunders” of the TRS.
“First of all, the rally did not go as expected and that sent wrong signals to the voters. Secondly, the renomination of many sitting legislators has come as a blessing in disguise for the Congress,” said political analyst Gone Prakash Rao.
“TRS leaders may say they are fighting in KCR’S name but the anti-incumbency cannot be ignored,” he said.
Among the rebels re-nominated by the TRS are 12 from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), three from the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), one from the Communist Party of India (CPI), two from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and six from the Congress.
J Kishan Rao, a non-resident Indian who returned to the country from the US a few years ago, echoed Gone Prakash’s views.
“KCR is inaccessible not only to the general public but even to his ministers and legislators. He has turned too arrogant,” he said. But TRS leaders rubbish the allegation and claim that there is no anti-incumbency and their party will cross the twothirds majority mark.
“Congress has already admitted that it can’t contest against TRS in all the seats on its own and that is why we see Maha Kootami or whatever Kootami it is. That is the admission of defeat,” said TRS Lok Sabha MP Boianapalli Vinod Kumar. He said the September 2 rally was one of the most successful public meetings in Indian politics.
SMELLING BLOOD
Sniffing victory, the Congress is leaving no stone unturned on its comeback trail. It has launched a multi-pronged attack on the TRS, dubbing it a B-team of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The TRS has been warming up to the BJP. While the PM has been praising KCR, the TRS helped the BJP in the no-confidence motion by abstaining from voting and later supported NDA candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh in the Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson elections.
MAHA KOOTAMI
The Congress’s electoral prospects also received a boost when it joined hands and struck a seat-sharing deal with the TDP, Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and the CPI to form a ‘Maha Kootami’ or a grand alliance.
“We share the concerns of the Congress and other parties of Maha Kootami. KCR has humiliated the people of Telangana and we want to save democracy,” said Telangana TDP chief L Ramana. His party colleague, R Chadrasekhar Reddy, said the upcoming election is a battle between “the alliance of four members of the ruling family” and the coalition of four parties.
DAMAGE CONTROL
The fear of rebel candidates has prompted the Congress to initiate efforts to woo them. Accordingly, senior leaders Ahmed Patel, M Veerappa Moily, Jairam Ramesh and DK Shivakumar rushed to Hyderabad and succeeded in persuading the dissidents to withdraw from the contest. And after Friday’s show of strength at a rally addressed by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, an upbeat Congress is confident of ousting KCR and TRS from power in the December 7 elections. Whether it succeeds or not will be known when the votes are counted on December 11.