Congress senses a dramatic turnaround

Warangal/Mahabubabad: The TRS' setback in Council polls seems to be a much-needed morale booster for the Congress, which is fighting it out against all odds in the 17th Lok Sabha elections.

Certainly, the development is seen as a shot in the arm for the Congress, which was feeling heat from the ruling TRS in the State especially since it faced the kind of drubbing in the Assembly elections.

Whether the political pendulum swings back or not just because of the defeat of three candidates backed by the TRS in Council elections, but it certainly gave a ray of hope for the Congress leaders to hit back strongly.

It may be mentioned here that former minister T Jeevan Reddy, Alugubelli Narsi Reddy and K Raghotham Reddy supported by Congress defeated M Chandrasekhar Goud, Pula Ravinder and Paturi Sudhakar Reddy, all backed by TRS, in the elections to three seats of Legislative Council on March 26.

This is the first loss for TRS since it was voted to power after the formation of Telangana in 2014.

Buoyant over ruling TRS' dismal performance, the Congress candidates for Warangal and Mahabubabad Lok Sabha constituencies Dommati Sambaiah and Porika Balram Naik, both cop-turned politicians, who are up against TRS candidates Pasunuri Dayakar and Maloth Kavitha respectively, have their task cut out to bring party cadres under one roof to make any sort of impact in the April 11 polls.

The TRS, which won the Warangal by-poll in 2015 with a record margin of nearly 4.60 lakh votes, appears to be all comfortable.

This apart, it won six of the seven Assembly segments that come under Warangal Parliamentary constituency in recent elections.

Speaking to The Hans India, Warangal Lok Sabha candidate Dommati Sambaiah said: "Despite the pathetic performance put by the party in the recent Assembly elections, Congress has a better chance of winning this election.

The TRS may be oozing with confidence to continue its winning streak in Lok Sabha polls also, but there is a hell lot of difference between the issues that dominate local and national politics."

Referring to the TRS' Council poll debacle, he said that it clearly shows that people are now looking for a change and they would vote in favour of Congress in the Parliament elections.

During its campaign, the Congress is keen to highlight the failure of TRS MPs especially in regard with the fulfilment of promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act 2014.

The issues likely to take poll plank are – Tribal University, Bayyaram steel plant, periodical over-hauling (POH) unit etc.