Weak spot identified, Telangana Congress begins course-correcting for LS polls

Congress insiders say the move is a part of the party’s strategy to cut losses it suffered in urban areas, especially in and around Hyderabad, even as it came to power winning 64 of the 119 seats in last year’s Assembly polls.

Sources say the party has dubbed the strategy to wean away BRS leaders as ‘Operation Aakarsh’, and put it at work within days of Reddy becoming CM. One of the first moves was the cancellation of the extensions given by the BRS to 54 various corporations. The BRS hoped to “placate” those who could not be given tickets for the Assembly elections.

Among the urban local bodies which have seen no-confidence motions against chairpersons or vice-chairpersons, many are in districts of Warangal, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Bhupalapally, Mahbubabad and Hyderabad. On Wednesday, the Congress and BJP joined hands in the Bhongir municipality to oust the BRS chairperson.

Startled by the pace of the upsets in the municipal bodies, some BRS councillors moved the Telangana High Court in January against their own rebellious chairpersons and vice-chairpersons. However, the court denied any respite.

Of the 119 Assembly seats in Telangana, 80 are classified as rural. In 2018, the BRS had swept the rural areas, winning 62 of these 80 seats, with the Congress trailing at 15. But in the Assembly polls last year, the BRS won just 19 of these seats while the Congress emerged victorious in 56.’

On the contrary, the BRS performed well in the urban belts. In the Hyderabad region, of the 24 seats, the Congress drew a blank while the BRS won 16 seats. The AIMIM emerged victorious in seven while the BJP won one seat.

“We analysed the Assembly poll results and it came to our notice that we did not perform very well in urban areas. To negate these losses in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, we are going all out in these areas. Our CM (Revanth Reddy, who is also the Telangana Congress chief) has set an ambitious target of winning more than 15 (of the 17 Lok Sabha) seats. We are working hard to achieve that,” a former Telangana Congress spokesperson said. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had won just three of the 17 seats.

Another district office-bearer in Mahbubnagar said the party is looking to keep the momentum it gained from the Assembly election results. “We were almost written off before the elections, but we stormed to power. In Mahbubnagar, which was seen as a BRS stronghold, the party was reduced to a single MLA. We want to make sure all anti-BRS votes are in our kitty and are not split,” he said.

A Congress leader from Nalgonda, seen as a party stronghold, said the party is looking to go all out ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. “We want to ensure that there is a Congress-BJP fight at most places as that will play to our advantage. A triangular fight involving the BRS makes things more difficult for us,” he said.

However, not all are happy about ‘Operation Aakarsh’. A section of Congress leaders point out that the influx of leaders will bring to the fore the “new guard-old guard” problem. “It is clear that the BRS leaders are joining after they have been promised something. However, people who have been working tirelessly for the party even in its lowest phase may be overlooked due to this. This will lead to factionalism and dent the party’s prospects while increasing chances of internal sabotage,” a senior Congress leader from Nagarkurnool said.

The BRS called the strategy for urban areas by targeting the civic bodies as a reflection of the Congress’s “greed for power”. “They are a party known to stoop to any depth for power. They will entice our leaders. Some of them may fall for it but most of us fully support the BRS and will continue to do so. Our performance in the Lok Sabha elections will show the same,” a leader said.