Hyderabad: Congress to get fresh leadership in New Year

Hyderabad: Congress is getting ready for the change of the leadership in the New Year as the year 2019 would take leave in a day which has given mixed results to the party.

The Congress entered into 2019 with the shock of defeat in the Assembly elections in 2018. The party was able to win just 19 seats and its ally Telugu Desam won two more.

However, there were revolts in the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council wings of the party as their members merged the legislative parties with the TRS. Though the party waged a legal fight against the mergers so far there is no result.

The Congress received some solace in the form of winning one MLC seat and three Lok Sabha seats. The party improved its performance in the Parliament election by winning one more seat than that of Lok Sabha polls in 2014.

The Grand Old Party faced one more political challenge from the BJP as it won four Lok Sabha seats. The Congress remained in third place in the Parliament elections. Few leaders of the party joined the BJP sending shock waves in the rank and file. The BJP has challenged the Congress's main opposition role and claimed it would be the alternative to the ruling TRS.

The Congress also lost the Huzurnagar by-poll, fared poorly in the Gram Panchayat, Mandal Parishad and Zilla Parishad elections. During the second half of 2019, the spirits of the Congress has gone down. The party's better performance in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand has raised the hopes among the party leaders. Particularly, formation of government in Maharashtra has breathed a fresh air into the party's rank and file.

Nationwide agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) has given some opportunity to make an appeal to the Muslims to come back to its fold. The issue has brought all the leaders to fight against the Central and State governments.

The Congress will face municipal elections in January and it is hoping to perform well due to the apathy of people with the BJP and TRS government at the Centre and the State respectively.

With the defeat of the party in the Assembly, Parliament and local body elections, demand for the change of the leadership has picked up momentum. Several leaders have begun lobbying to enter the office of the president of the Pradesh Congress Committee. Leaders of the party say that the State affairs incharge may also be changed in the New Year. The Congress is expecting that the new president and new incharge by end of January.