Rudderless Congress in Telangana may end up with just 2 LS seats, TRS may score 10!

Even as the Telangana Congressmen call the press and voice their confidence in forming the first Telangana State Government with an alliance of Congress, MIM and CPI, things could not get worse for them in the just concluded elections. While the likes of Ponnala Lakshmiah, Jana Reddy, D Srinivas project themselves as possible 1st CM of Telangana State, it is now clearer that Congress has almost no chance of forming a Government even if it gains the support of MIM and CPI as there seems to be no possibility of Congress winning even 40 Assembly seats.

Even the Telangana Congress MPs who were better off on than the MLAs in taking part in the Telangana agitation are finding it hard to survive this election. If field reports are to be believed, Congress seems to be comfortable retaining just 2 of the 12 Lok Sabha seats it presently holds – Peddapally and Nalgonda. TRS seems to be having the edge in at least 9 seats – Adilabad, Chevella, Medak, Nizamabad, Nagar Kurnool, Warangal, Zaheerabad, Bhuvanagiri and Mahabubabad. TRS is locked in a close fight with congress in Karim Nagar and TDP in Malkajgiri. TDP is also fighting YSRCP in Khammam. BJP is the favorite in Secunderabad and Mahabubnagar while MIM retains Hyderabad. The 9-10 Lok Sabha seats for TRS translates to around 65 assembly seats which would mean TRS gets majority on it’s own.

The congress with 2-3 Lok Sabha seats would at best get into 20s for it’s score and even considering the cross-voting and the strongmen it has for MLAs and Ministers who can override the weak MP candidates, it’s unlikely it can win assembly seats upwards 30. In fact, the Congress stalwarts in Telangana are finding it hard to win their own constituencies. Telangana Congress Working President Uttam Kumar Reddy has a case registered against him for allegedly distributing money to voters. “If the role of Uttam Kumar Reddy is proved, he will face imprisonment up to a maximum of three years,” the AP Chief Electoral Officer said. This is one stalwart who had his chance of becoming Chief Minister of Telangana and his situation only reflects the desperation Telangana Congress is in. In this scenario, talks of Congressmen vying for CM giri are outlandish. Even in the worst scenario, if TRS falls short by 5 or so seats, Congress can not form the Government unless it takes BJP and TDP support while TRS would need just the communists, independents or MIM.