Hopes of Many Congress Seniors Shattered

The dreams and the high hopes of the grand alliance led by the Congress (the Praja Kutami) have been shattered in the just-concluded Telangana Assembly elections.

The alliance managed to win only 21 Assembly seats out of the 119 as the pink wave struck it like a tsunami, with the Congress winning in 19 constituencies and the TDP emerging victorious in only two.

The other alliance partners - the TJS and the CPI - could not open their accounts in the state.

Several bigwigs and veterans of the Congress including ex-CLP leader K Jana Reddy (Nagarjuna Sagar), former minister D K Aruna (Gadwal), Komatireddy Venkat Reddy (Nalgonda), G Chinna Reddy (Wanaparthy), T Jeevan Reddy (Jagtial), Mohammad Ali Shabbir (Kamareddy), V Sunitha Laxma Reddy (Narsapur), Konda Surekha (Parakal), Damodar Raja Narasimha (Andole), J Geeta Reddy (Zaheerabad), Ponnala Lakshmaiah (Jangoan) and A Revanth Reddy (Kodangal) among others lost the elections.

The saving grace for the Congress were the victories of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N Uttam Kumar Reddy (Huzurnagar), former minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu (Manthani), Sabitha Indra Reddy (Maheswaram), former Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka (Madira) and former minister Vanama Venkateswara Rao (Kothagudem).

Some low-profile party candidates turned out to be dark horses as they defeated the sitting ministers of the ruling TRS. The Congress candidate from the Palair Assembly constituency Kandala Upender Reddy shocked the Telangana state women and child welfare minister and political heavy weight Thummala Nageswara Rao. Another Congress leader Pilot Rohit Reddy defeated state transport minister Patnam Mahender Reddy in Tandur.

Similarly, the Congress candidate from the Kollapur Assembly constituency Harshavardhan Reddy defeated the state Panchayat Raj minister Jupally Krishna Rao, while the party candidate from Mulug Anasuya Dansari defeated state tourism minister Azmeera Chandulal.

Senior Congress leader Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy defeated the ex-Speaker of the Telangana Assembly S Madhusudhana Chary in the Bhupalpalle Assembly constituency.

Other party candidates including Haripriya Banoth (Yellandu), Podem Veeraiah (Bhadrachalam), Kantha Rao Rega (Pinapaka), Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy (Munugode), Turpu Jayaprakash Reddy (Sangareddy), Chirumarthi Lingaiah (Nakrekal) and Athram Sakku (Asifabad) won by defeating their rivals.

Some former MPs of the Congress, who had contested as MLAs including Ponnam Prabhakar (Karimnagar), Sarve Satyanarayana (Secunderabad Cantonment), Balram Naik (Mahabubabad), Ramesh Rathod (Khanapur) also lost in the elections.

Meanwhile the candidates of the TDP, which fought alongside the Congress as a partner in the Praja Kutami won only in two constituencies. The TDP leader Sandra Venkata Veeraiah (Sattupally) scored a hat-trick by defeating his nearest rival Pidamarti Ravi of the TRS, while Mecha Nageswara Rao won the Aswaraopeta seat.

However, a former MP of the TDP Nama Nageswara Rao, who had contested from Khammam lost to TRS candidate Ajay Kumar Puvvada.