Tag: Polls

BJP will lose Telangana Assembly polls 2023, says Owaisi

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Hyderabad: AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government is running the administration with a bulldozer and not Constitution.
While talking to ANI, Owaisi said, ” Those doing ‘bulldozer politics’ in UP have taken the lives of a mother-daughter. They want to run the govt with a bulldozer, not Constitution. They will not gain anything politically by doing all this.”
On being asked about Telangana BJP Chief Bandi Sanjay’s Taj Mahal remark, he stated, “the BJP will fail in the Telangana Assembly polls in 2023.”
On February 16, Bandi said, “Owaisi says he is so happy as the Secretariat looks like the Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal is a tomb which means the Secretariat looks like a tomb to Owaisi. KCR is building Secretariat like the Taj Mahal to see the happiness in the eyes of Owaisi.”
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#BJP #lose #Telangana #Assembly #polls #Owaisi
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 16, 2023
Will AIMIM really contest 50 seats in Telangana Assembly polls?

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Hyderabad: Ahead of upcoming Assembly elections in Telangana, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi announced that his party will contest at least 50 seats out of 119 seats in Telangana. This statement has led to speculations in political circles.
However, BJP seems to be confident that AIMIM will not contest in 50 seats.
The saffron party’s national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao on Wednesday said that the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party will not contest 50 seats as it will damage the prospects of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
To support his claim, he said that the steering of BRS is in AIMIM’s hand and the nuts and bolts of the Owaisi-led party are in Telangana CM KCR.
Akbaruddin Owaisi’s statement in Assembly
During the recently held Assembly session, Akbaruddin Owaisi reacted to Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao’s remark that AIMIM has only seven seats in the house.
While reacting to KTR’s statement, Akbaruddin Owaisi said, “I have taken a very serious note of his (KTR) comment on AIMIM. I assure him that I am going to make sure I talk to my party president and see that we can contest more seats in the upcoming elections. I will make sure that we contest on at least 50 seats and win at least 15 of them. I will make sure that my party president agrees”.
Assembly elections in Telangana are scheduled to be held at the end of this year for all 199 constituency seats. In the last assembly elections, BRS contested all the seats and won 88 seats.
AIMIM, BRS performance in previous Telangana Assembly polls
In Telangana State, the previous Assembly polls were held on December 7, 2018. In the polls, the main parties were Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Indian National Congress (INC), and BJP.

After the polls that were held nine months earlier that the scheduled date, TRS which is now BRS formed the government by winning 88 seats out of 119 improving its seat share by 25.
In the polls, the seat share of INC decreased from 21 to 19 whereas, AIMIM managed to win seven seats.
Meanwhile, BJP which tried hard to form a government in the elections managed to win only a single seat. Its seat share dipped from five to one.
BJP aims to win Telangana Assembly polls 2023
After an impressive performance in GHMC elections, BJP is leaving no stone unturned to win a majority of seats in the upcoming Telangana Assembly polls to form government in the state.
However, due to welfare schemes and the developmental works carried out by the BRS government, it is unlikely that BJP will be able to form a government in the state.
Earlier a survey also revealed that BRS will form a government for the third time in Telangana state. However, it predicted that the seat share of the ruling party may decline.
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#AIMIM #contest #seats #Telangana #Assembly #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 16, 2023
Tripura Assembly polls: Voting begins amid tight security

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Agartala: The polling for the Tripura Assembly elections began amid tight security on Thursday.
The voting started at 7 am and will continue till 4 pm.
According to Election Commission, over 28.14 lakh electorates of which 14,15,233 are male voters, 13,99,289 are woman voters and 62 are of the third gender, are eligible to cast their franchise. The voting is underway at 3,337 polling stations.
Adequate security arrangements have been made for the polls. The state has 97 all-women-managed police stations. It has 94,815 voters in the 18-19 age group and 6,21,505 in the 22-29 age group. The highest number of voters are in the 40-59 age group at 9,81,089.
The fate of the 259 candidates will be sealed on 60 Assembly seats today.
A triangular contest is on the cards as Congress and CPIM, which have been arch rivals for years, stitched a pre-poll alliance to defeat the ruling BJP while the BJP which is looking to retain its power is contesting in alliance with Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) and the Tipra Motha which is being seen as a kingmaker in case of a hung assembly scenario, emerged as an influential regional party floated by the royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma in 2021. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress has also put up candidates on several seats.
The BJP is contesting on 55 seats and its ally, IPFT, on six seats. But both allies have fielded candidates in the Ampinagar constituency in Gomati district.
The Left will contest on 47 and Congress on 13 seats, respectively.Of the total 47 seats, the CPM will contest 43 seats while the Forward Bloc, Communist Party of India ( CPI) and Revolutionary Socialist Party ( RSP) will contest one seat each.

Over 28 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes in the election for the 60-member assembly in the border state.
Tripura is the first state to go to the polls this year. While polling for Nagaland and Meghalaya assemblies will be held on February 27, five more states face elections this year in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
A total of 259 candidates, including 20 women, are in the fray in Tripura. The counting of votes will be done on March 2.
This time Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded 12 women candidates.The BJP which had never won a single seat in Tripura before 2018, stormed to power in the last election in alliance with IPFT and had ousted the Left Front which had been in power in the border state for 35 years since 1978.
BJP won 36 seats in the assembly and got 43.59 per cent of the votes in the 2018 election. The CPI (M) won 16 seats with a 42.22 per cent vote share. The IPFT won eight seats and Congress could not open its account.
The BJP is exuding confidence that it will improve its performance. Party’s top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and party chief JP Nadda campaigned in the state.
Apart from national leaders, the star campaigners, Chief Ministers of Assam and Uttar Pradesh, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Yogi Adiyanath respectively also campaigned in Tripura.
On the other hand, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, and senior party leaders Brinda Karat, Prakash Karat, Mohammad Salim and former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar campaigned for the party in Tripura.
Congress campaigners included party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Dipa Dasmunshi and Ajoy Kumar. However, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did not campaign in the state.
The CPI-M-led Left Front ruled the state for nearly four decades, with a gap between 1988 and 1993, when the Congress was in power but now both the parties joined hand with an intention to oust BJP from power.
Tipra Motha, which has raised demand for Greater Tipraland, could upset the calculations of both BJP and Left-Congress alliance. Tipra Motha, chaired by Tripura royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, is contesting at 42 seats.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress may act as a spoiler as it is contesting 28 seats and 58 independent candidates are also trying out their luck.
Chief Minister Manik Saha is contesting the polls from Town Borodowali. Congress has fielded Ashish Kumar Saha against him. Manik Saha replaced Biplab Kumar Deb as chief minister in May last year.
Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma is contesting from Charilam seat.
Tripura BJP state president Rajiv Bhattacharjee is contesting from the Banamalipur constituency. Biplab Deb earlier represented the seat.
CPI(M) state general secretary Jitendra Choudhury is contesting from the Sabroom constituency.
The BJP has fielded Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik from the Dhanpur constituency. Bhoumik is the first woman from Tripura to become a Union minister. Tipra Motha has fielded Amiya Dayal Noatia against Bhoumik in the seat.
BJP has fielded sitting MLA Pranajit Singh Roy from the Radhakishorpur constituency. He is pitted against CPI-ML’s Partha Karmakar.
BJP’s Papiya Dutta will face Congress candidate Sudip Roy Barman in Agartala.
In Karbook, CPI(M) candidate Priyamani Debbarma is contesting against BJP’s Ashim Tripura and Tipra Motha’s Sanjay Manik.
In the run-up to the elections, Chief Minister Manik Saha said that the demand for a “Greater Tipraland” is not possible as Tripa Motha Party is not able to define the boundary.
“Greater Tipraland, we have heard this name before also. In every Assembly election, some or other slogans like Tipraland are created and after every 5 years, new local parties emerge and raise such slogans. I have repeatedly asked where is the boundary, sometimes they say that Greater Tipraland is in Bangladesh, and sometimes they say that there are some parts of Assam and Mizoram too. This means they are in a fix. What exactly they are trying to say and want to say, we are not able to understand anything. When we talk about this matter, they say it is linguistic culturally, they are not able to define or describe properly,” Saha said during an exclusive interview with the ANI, on the demand of Greater Tipraland.
He had also termed the democratic ouster of the Left Front government in Tripura in the last assembly polls by the BJP as “historic” and something “that has barely happened in India’s history”.
“It’s a history that after 35 years of rule, BJP removed the Communist government here in a democratic way…It has barely happened in India’s history,” he said.
“Communists committed murders and violence here, so it is important that they do not return to power as violence cannot lead to development. Numerous people had to sacrifice their lives. All of us are very concerned,” Saha added.
BJP in its manifesto promised welfare proposals such as special canteen meals to the poor three times a day at Rs 5 each, a Balika Samridddhi bond of Rs 50,000 to each underprivileged family on the birth of a girl child and scooters for meritorious college girls.
The manifesto also promises smartphones to 50,000 meritorious students, two free LPG cylinders to all beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, land deeds to those without any holdings, and an annual payout of Rs 3,000 to all landless farmers.
The counting of votes will take place on March 2, coinciding with the date of the Meghalaya and Nagaland Assembly polls results.
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#Tripura #Assembly #polls #Voting #begins #tight #security
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 16, 2023
BJP inflating tenders to raise money for Karnataka polls

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Bengaluru: The Karnataka unit Congress leaders on Wednesday accused the BJP-led state government of inflating and finalising tenders to raise money for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Karnataka unit Congress president D.K. Shivakumar said “the term of the BJP government in the state is just one month”.
“The ruling BJP is hastening the tender process in public works department, irrigation, micro irrigation, power, rural development and other departments.
“The tender value is inflated. Suppose, if the tender estimated value is Rs 500 crore, it is being inflated to Rs 1,000 crore. We are ready to provide all evidence in this regard,” Shivakumar stated.
The code of conduct is going to be implemented by March 7 or 10 after the Budget Session.
Some major tenders are given after tabling them in the cabinet. While, others are given without discussing in the cabinet. The tenders are given in 7 days of time, Shivakumar said.
The legislators are giving offers to contractors on streets and telling them that if they want to get this tender, they will have to give a certain amount of money before elections, he said.
Shivakumar further said that BJP MLA Gulihatti Shekar had also written a letter to the government in this regard. The party is giving the task to BJP legislators and for those who have not got ministerial berths.

“For any work to be taken up in Bengaluru, the deals are finalised in the CM’s office. The government has stated that it had released Rs 7,100 crore for filling up of potholes. The state has been made the capital of corruption.
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#BJP #inflating #tenders #raise #money #Karnataka #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 15, 2023
Poll Body To Take Call On J&K Elections, Statehood After Assembly Polls: Amit Shah

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SRINAGAR: Restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), as promised by the Centre, would be done after the Assembly poll in the Union Territory (UT) and a call to conduct elections would be taken by the Election Commission of India (ECI), Union Home Minister Amit Shah said today.
Talking to news agency ANI in a interview, Shah noted that there has been a marked improvement in the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir as the lowest militancy-related incidents were reported in the recent past.
He also insisted that Article 370, which was done away with by the Centre in August 2019, had actually harmed the country and the BJP had always been against it.
Noting that development in J&K was leading to gradual ending of militancy, Shah said, “See all the figures. There is a lot of change in Jammu and Kashmir.” Indicating that he could not comment on the timing of the poll in J&K, Shah said, “I had clearly stated that statehood will be restored in Jammu and Kashmir after elections. The process for preparation of voters’ list is nearing completion in the UT. Now, the Election Commission has to take a call on elections.”
On the issue of the emergence of new leadership in J&K, Shah said that new leadership would emerge from local bodies where poll had been held earlier. “The panches and sarpanches, who have been elected…new leadership will emerge from them…Since the time militancy started in J&K, the militancy-related figures are at their lowest today. Crores of tourists and ‘yatris’ are visiting J&K now. This is a huge change,” he noted.
Shah said removing Article 370 has been on the agenda of BJP and Jana Sangh. He also referred to India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru in the context of Article 370. “Since 1950, it was on our agenda to remove Article 370 from J&K. Today, the way J&K is witnessing development and decrease in militancy shows that change is coming,” he said. Shah said those slamming the BJP should answer in whose tenure militancy grew in J&K.
“As far as elections are concerned, do they not remember that local body polls were held under our rule? These did not take place for 70 years. Three families were holding sway in J&K and they are making noise…Farooq Abdullah had gone to England. In whose tenure, militancy grew…there should be an answer,” Shah said.

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#Poll #Body #Call #Elections #Statehood #Assembly #Polls #Amit #Shah
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 15, 2023
Telangana: Tehreek Muslim Shabban seeks eight pc reservations to Muslims before polls

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The Tehreek Muslim Shabban, a city-based organization, on Tuesday, urged the Telangana government to allot eight percent reservations to Muslims before the next Assembly elections in the State.
“Eight years have passed since the formation of Telangana state, but the promise of 12 percent reservations for Muslims stands unfulfilled by the government. If not 12 percent, the BRS must at least approve eight percent reservation for Muslims,” said Tehreek Muslim Shabban president Mushtaq Malik.
Mallik questioned the government for ignoring Muslims and said “the State government has increased the reservation quotas for STs from six percent to 10 percent but no such announcement was made in regard to Muslim reservation.” he stated.
The BRS government had assured 12 percent reservation in its Election Manifesto but failed to implement or fulfill the promise”, Mustaq Malik added.
He further questioned the lack of Muslim representation and appointment of Muslims in crucial government departments and the Public Service Commission. He said the government has appointed 10 Vice Chancellors in different universities, but none from the Muslim community.
Except the appointment of 66 Urdu officers, very little has been done by the government for the welfare of Muslims. Not even four per cent Muslims are part of the 2BHK apartments allotted by the government while only 1.43% Muslims have been able to secure Gazetted officers posts in the State, he added.
He urged the government to “prioritize sanctioning of financial aid of one lakh rupees per head to more than 2, 16,000 applicants which have been pending for a long time” and help the youth fight joblessness. Mustaq Malik also requested the government to expedite construction of mosques inside the Telangana Secretariat complex, appoint a Musim candidate as the Minority Commission Chairman and increase their representation in the Public Service Commission.
He said “Sudhir commission was constituted to analyze the educational and financial status of Muslims, and approved its recommendations but Muslims are still awaiting this, ” he said.

The Tehreek Muslim Shabban will visit Karimnagar, Jagtial and Siddipet and campaign to create awareness, garner support and remind the government about its reservation promises”,he added.
Vice President of organization Abdul Haq, social activist Dr. Aleem Khan Falki, Saleem Al Hindi, Saleem Ilahi and others were also present on this occasion.
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#Telangana #Tehreek #Muslim #Shabban #seeks #reservations #Muslims #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 15, 2023
Nagaland polls: BJP’s ‘Vision Document’ talks of promoting Naga culture

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Kohima: Preserving a rich Naga identity and culture including establishment of a dedicated Nagaland Cultural Research Fund with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, inclusive development, agricultural and farmer and women’s welfare are some of the pre-poll commitments made in the BJP’s Nagaland ‘Vision Document’ ahead of the February 27 assembly polls.
Releasing the ‘Vision Document-2023’ in Kohima on Tuesday, BJP President J.P. Nadda said that if the BJP-Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) comes to power, Saramati Cultural University would be established in Kiphire with an investment of Rs 500 crore to promote Naga culture, Rs 100 crore to be spent to promote and expand the scope of all major tribal festivals, he said.
Nadda promised that the Eastern Nagaland Development Board would be set up for the holistic development of the region and a special package for the development of Eastern Nagaland would be given.
The BJP leader said that the Central government would expedite the construction of the Trans-Nagaland Highway to enable easy access across districts, especially from Eastern Nagaland.
The BJP in its ‘Vision Document’ promised that free rice and wheat per month and 5 kg black chickpeas and one litre of mustard oil per family quarterly, would be provided at a subsidised rate to all PDS beneficiaries monthly.
The rate of existing social pension would be increased to Rs 1,000 per month for senior citizens, specially-abled, and widows, health insurance cards would be provided for cashless medical facilities for all government employees, it said.
The BJP promised that in conjunction with the Central government, affordable housing would be provided to all under PM Awas Yojana by 2025.
The ‘Vision Document-2023’ also committed to increasing the financial assistance under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme from the current Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 per annum.

An Agri-Infrastructure Mission would be launched with an investment of Rs 500 crore, the party assured.
It said that the Neidonuo Angami Women Welfare Scheme would be introduced under which a bond of Rs 50,000 would be provided on the birth of a girl child.
The BJP said that if it comes to power, it would provide free-of-cost, quality education to all female students from K-G to P-G, and 2 free-of-cost LPG cylinders would be provided for all Ujjwala beneficiaries every year, while a scooty would be provided to meritorious college-going female students.
For youth’s empowerment, the BJP government would provide 2 lakh self-employment opportunities in the next 5 years while Rs 500 crore would be invested to launch a Nagaland Skill Development University to train the youth and make them job-ready, the Vision Document said, adding that digital tablets would be provided to all the meritorious students of Classes 10 and 12.
The party also said that timely completion and commencement of the Kohima and Mon Medical Colleges would be ensured.
If the BJP comes to power, it would constitute the Nagaland Anti Narcotics Task Force under the Chief Medical Officers to curb the drugs menace in the state.
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#Nagaland #polls #BJPs #Vision #Document #talks #promoting #Naga #culture
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 14, 2023
YSRCP to run ‘Jagan anna is our future’ campaign in run-up to 2024 polls

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Amaravati: Gearing up for next year’s Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) will undertake a ‘Jagan anna is our future’ campaign across the state next month.
Chief Minister and YSRCP President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday asked 5.6 lakh party secretariat convenors and ‘Gruha Saradhulu’ (household heads) to vigorously run the campaign from March 18 to 26.
At an extended party meeting attended by MLAs, ministers, coordinators, regional coordinators and district unit presidents here on Monday, the Chief Minister told them that the party cadres should visit 1.65 crore households during the campaign, visiting door-to-door, spending time with the families and explain the slew of welfare programmes being implemented by the state government.
They should explain to the people how the government is providing a transparent administration and taking the state forward with development compared to the TDP rule, he said.
Party secretariat convenors should coordinate the five lakh ‘Gruha Saradhulu’ who have already been appointed and the remaining would be appointed by February 16, he said, adding that training has been completed for the first batch of party convenors and ‘Gruha Saradhulu’ in 387 mandals while the training for the second batch will be held from February 14 to 19.
He asked the MLAs to participate in the training camps and motivate the party convenors and ‘Gruha Saradhulu’ and take up party programmes at the field level when the training is completed.
Also reviewing the mass contact programme, ‘Gadapa Gadapaku’, he stressed that it is very important and party leaders should complete it in the stipulated time by meeting people and explaining them about the welfare and development programmes being implemented by the government.
Reddy said the party cadres should go ahead with the programme explaining to the people about the false propaganda of the pro-TDP media which is trying to hoodwink the people and denigrate the image of the government for political gains.

The Chief Minister was informed that the MLAs so far completed the ‘Gadapa Gadapaku’ programme in about 7,447 secretariats visiting six secretariats in a month on an average.
He asked the district party presidents, MLAs and constituency observers to work in unison and bring victory to the party candidates in the forthcoming MLC elections being held for graduates and teachers constituencies.
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#YSRCP #run #Jagan #anna #future #campaign #runup #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 13, 2023
35 candidates showed interest in contesting Manesar civic polls on BJP ticket

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Gurugram: At least 35 candidates have showed interest in contesting the upcoming Manesar Municipal Corporation (MCM) elections in Gurugram on BJP ticket.
The civic body comprises a total of 20 wards, and is expected to go to the poll in March-April.
Apart from this, over a dozen of contestants have come forward for the Mayor’s election, a party source claimed.
For the first time, the Mayor in Manesar will be elected directly through the municipal polls.
These candidates also submitted their bio-data during a recently held meeting chaired by Haryana former Education Minister and Election in-charge of MCM Ram Bilas Sharma.
In a few wards, not even a single contestant came forward, while the party was expecting that it would get at least four to five claimants in each ward, but it did not happen, the sources elaborated.
The election in-charge of MCM on Saturday said: “The dedicated workers will be given a strong hold on the upcoming corporation elections.”
“For this, an internal survey will be conducted, and based on the report, the organisation will start ticket distribution,” he said.

“During the meeting, bio-data of the workers willing to contest the mayor’s election were sought from Manesar Corporation. More than a dozen workers have submitted their profiles before the senior party leader,” Sharma said.
The former minister said, “The election date will be decided by the Election Commission, but the party organisation is fully prepared for the upcoming Manesar Corporation Elections.”
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#candidates #showed #interest #contesting #Manesar #civic #polls #BJP #ticket
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 12, 2023
Congress faces Telangana polls with its back to the wall

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Hyderabad: With a few months to go for Assembly elections in Telangana, the Congress faces an acid test to remain relevant in the state politics as the BJP is making every effort to become the principal contestant to ruling BRS while in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh the chances of a revival of grand old partys fortunes remained bleak.
More than eight years after formation of Telangana as a separate state, the Congress party still appears clueless to regain the lost ground in its former stronghold.
Reeling under defections of several leaders and legislators during the last eight-and-a-half years and humiliating defeats in by-elections, the party looks to be in disarray. Infighting and lack of any charismatic figure have added to the woes of the grand old party.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi brought some enthusiasm to lift the spirit of demoralized cadre and the state Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy is trying to keep the momentum with ongoing padyatra as part of Hath Se Hath Jodo campaign, the party faces the acid test.
The Congress, which was hoping to reap the political benefit of carving out Telangana state in 2014, may find the going tough in the third consecutive election.
The party faces the biggest challenge to its survival as the BJP appears to have occupied the space of principal contestant for ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
In both 2014 and 2018, the Congress party was the main rival for BRS but this time the party may face the next polls even without this status.
Political observers say that in the narrative of BRS versus BJP built by the saffron party, Congress party may face the going tough.

“It will be now or never for the Congress party in Telangana. To stay afloat in state politics, it will have to at least emerge as the second largest party in the Assembly,” said political observer Palwai Raghavendra Reddy.
“Wherever the Congress party lost the status of opposition, it never made a comeback. There are many examples like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal,” he said.
In 2014, the Congress won 22 seats in 119-member Telangana Assembly, while it was completely wiped out in Andhra Pradesh due to the public anger over bifurcation. In Telangana, several party leaders including legislators defected to TRS.
In 2018 Congress faced another disaster. It could win just 19 seats, though it had forged an electoral alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Left parties and some smaller parties.
Even before Congress could gear up for Lok Sabha elections in 2019, it had lost as many as 12 MLAs to the ruling party. Though the party salvaged some pride by winning three Lok Sabha seats, with the reduced strength in Assembly it lost the status of main opposition to All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), a friendly party of TRS.
The party suffered a huge embarrassment a few months after Lok Sabha as it failed to retain Huzurnagar Assembly seat, where by-election was necessitated with the resignation of Uttam Kumar Reddy following his election to Lok Sabha.
The BJP wrested the Dubbak Assembly seat from the TRS in 2020 by-election to consolidate itself. The saffron party, which hardly had any presence in the constituency, pushed Congress party to third position.
The Congress suffered another humiliation the same year as it could win just two seats in 150-member Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
The party was pinning its hopes on by-election to Nagarjuna Sagar to revive its fortunes in the state. Its senior leader and former minister K. Jana Reddy lost the contest by over 18,000 votes to the TRS candidate.
The appointment of Revanth Reddy as the new state president by the central leadership in 2021 after ignoring several seniors and strong contenders triggered open revolt by a section of leaders, who saw Revanth as an outsider as he had defected to Congress from TDP just before 2018 elections.
The change of guard also could not bring any change in the party’s fortunes. Several seniors started openly attacking Revanth Reddy for sidelining them.
In the Huzurabad by-election held towards the end of 2021, the performance of the Congress was disastrous. Its candidate secured only 3,012 votes and lost the deposit. It was a big slump for the party, which had secured 47,803 votes in 2018 to finish runners-up.
The resignation of sitting MLA from Munugode constituency Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy and his defection to BJP to force by-election late last year dealt another blow to Congress party. It faced more embarrassment with its candidate finishing a poor third and forfeiting the deposit.
Rajagopal Reddy’s brother and Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, the star campaigner of Congress party, also stayed away from campaigning in Munugode, further embarrassing the party.
The continuing slide raised new questions on the leadership of Revanth Reddy, whose style of functioning also irked some seniors. Recently when he packed the party panels with his loyalists, the senior raised a banner of revolt and launched a movement to save the party. They called it a fight between real Congress leaders and migrants from other parties.
The allegation by seniors that AICC incharge Manickam Tagore is siding Revanth Reddy forced the central leadership to intervene and replace him with Manikrao Thakare.
The new incharge last began his efforts to put the house in order. It’s not going to be an easy task for Manikrao.
In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the prospects for the Congress party for revival of its political fortunes look really bleak.
Due to public anger over division of Andhra Pradesh, the party remained without any representation either in state Assembly or in Parliament from the state. It has yielded the political space to YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), which emerged as the number two force in 2014 and wrested power from TDP in 2019.
With many top Congress leaders defecting to either YSRCP or TDP after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the Congress camp became deserted..
In the 2014 elections, Congress was virtually wiped out due to public anger over bifurcation of the state. It drew a blank in both Assembly and Lok Sabha and there was no improvement in 2019.
“People of Andhra Pradesh are still reeling under the after-effects of bifurcation, and it is evident the people there blame the Congress for this situation. The state politics has become more or less YSRCP versus TDP battle and in the foreseeable future, Congress appears to have no chance of making a comeback,” said an analyst.
That the Congress party recognized this reality was evident when Bharat Jodo Yatra covered less than 100 km in the state.
During the Yatra, in Andhra Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi Rahul Gandhi reiterated that the Congress party remains committed to grant special category status to the state and develop a single capital at Amaravati.
Special Category Status (SCS) to the residuary state was promised by the Congress-led UPA government at the time of bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh in 2014 and this commitment was part of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014.
However, the BJP-led NDA, which came to power at the Centre in 2014, declined to grant SCS to Andhra Pradesh on the ground that this would lead to similar demands from other states. Both TDP and YSRCP also failed to achieve SCS.
In a statement issued at the end of the journey in Andhra Pradesh, he recalled the commitment made in and by the Parliament to the people of Andhra Pradesh. “We are determined to ensure that these commitments are met -fully and speedily. Both the central and state governments have failed in this regard,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi noted that the Congress party is aware of the challenges it faced in Andhra Pradesh. “The state has been a bastion of the Congress party in the past, and has produced outstanding statesmen for India. We are determined to do all we can to ensure that the Congress party returns to its pre-eminent position in the hearts and minds of the Andhra people,” he said.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 12, 2023