"Congress Not Loser In By-Polls"

The reactions by party leaders over the defeat of the Congress candidates in the by-elections to 12 assembly constituencies in the Telangana region was on expected lines.

The party had nothing to lose in the by-polls, since 10 seats were held by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, and one each by the Telugu Desam Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Vemulawada TDP sitting MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh had resigned from the party to join the TRS, while the BJP candidate Lakshminarayana had resigned from the Nizamabad Urban seat.

Talking to media persons after the results and trends came in, Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah said that the seats were are not Congress seats in the first place, and belonged to members of other parties, who resigned for Telangana.

He added that the people re-elected the sitting MLAs due to the strong pro-Telangana sentiment. Ponnala said that in the 2009 general elections the Congress had grasped 50 legislative assembly seats in the region.

All India Congress Committee secretary Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy reflected this view by saying that the defeat is not a loss for the Congress. He said that, win or lose, the onus is on the party to introspect and eliminate the causes for the defeat. He added that the party will have to stick to the promises made during campaigning and work for the people.

Former minister Jeevan Reddy said that the results have added to the responsibility of chief minister K Rosaiah and PCC president D Srinivas to take note of people's desires.

He also said that the verdict should make the Seemandhra Congress leaders open their eyes to the people's verdict. The former minister added that the government will show that it respects the people's mandate when it starts working for a separate state.

Secunderabad Cantonment MLA Shankar Rao said that he is happy with the results. He said that the results show that people have paid their tributes to the 600 people who sacrificed their life for Telangana. He said that he desires that a bill be introduces by 2012 in Parliament for separate statehood, and expressed optimism that his wish would be fulfilled.

Congress Government Whip Shailajanadh refused to accept that the results reflected the people's aspirations for a separate state. He saw no connection between the results and the demands for a separate state.

Courtesy: INNq