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Telangana Congressmen bank on Sonia’s visit to swing tide

With almost all the Lok Sabha and State Assembly constituencies in Telangana facing three-cornered contests, Congress leaders in the region are banking heavily on the imminent visit of party president Sonia Gandhi to swing the tide in favour of the ruling party during the April 30 elections.

Telangana accounts for 17 Lok Sabha seats and 119 Assembly segments, and in all these seats, the three principal parties — Congress, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the TDP-BJP alliance have fielded candidates. In some constituencies, particularly in Hyderabad and surroundings, it would be a multi-cornered contest with the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has a strong presence in the capital, and the Lok Satta also in the fray.

Khaleej Times spoke to leaders and candidates of various parties across the political spectrum in the course of campaign trails. Congress leaders, stating that the TRS was their main rival in Telangana, expectedly claimed that people would vote for the ruling party because it was the Congress-led UPA government which gave them Telangana.

On the other hand, the TRS claims it was because of their sustained movement and the commitment and persistent pressure brought on the government by the party president K. Chandrasekhar Rao that Telangana became a reality. Not to be left out, the BJP claims that had it not supported the bifurcation bill in Parliament, Telangana wouldn’t have happened.

Senior Congress leader and former APCC president D. Srinivas, who is in the fray from Nizamabad Assembly constituency, said: “Sonia Gandhi’s visit to Karimnagar sometime this week will be the game-changer this elections in Telangana. As it is, people all over the region, particularly the educated class, acknowledge that it was Sonia Gandhi who helped them realise their long-cherished dream of a separate state, and once she addresses the people of the region, the fence-sitters will vote for the Congress.”

Echoing similar sentiment, Union Minister for Science and Technology Jaipal Reddy, a five-time Lok Sabha member and the Congress nominee from Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha constituency this time, says: “People of Telangana know that it was Sonia Gandhi who gave them Telangana. In fact, the situation is such that even in Medak Lok Sabha constituency, from where the TRS president is contesting, the Congress has an edge.”

Claiming that the Muslims and backward classes would not vote for TRS because KCR jettisoned his promise of appointing a scheduled caste as chief minister and a minority leader as deputy chief minister of the new state if the party came to power, Jaipal Reddy, a veteran of several electoral battles, said KCR is a factor only in these elections.

Pooh-pooing Congress’ claims that Sonia Gandhi’s visit would take the wind out of the opposition sails, KCR’s daughter K. Kavitha, who heads the Telangana Jagruthi, an organisation promoting Telangana culture, says TRS is the voice of the Telangana people and nobody can deny that.

“The Congress has no face (prominent leader) in Telangana, and it carries the baggage of 10 years of incumbency. The TRS will win hands down and form the government in the new state,” Kavitha, who is contesting from Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency in a triangular fight, told Khaleej Times.

Her main Congress rival in the constituency Madhu Yashki Goud, who is seen as one of the Congress leaders who fought strongly for separate statehood, also believes that Sonia Gandhi’s visit would put Congress way ahead of the others in Telangana. “People all over feel and believe that she alone made Telangana a reality, and her visit would not only galvanise Congress cadres but also motivate people to vote for Congress,” Goud, who is deputy chief whip in the outgoing Lok Sabha, said.

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