A strong anti-incumbency factor coupled with the wave in favour of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) engulfed almost the entire line-up of former Congress Ministers in Telangana -- many of them aspiring to be the first Chief Minister of the 29 State in the country -- when results for the general elections were announced on Friday.
Dreams of former Deputy Chief Minister C. Damodar Rajanarasimha, TPCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah, former PCC chief D. Srinivas, former Ministers – D. Sridhar Babu, Md. Ali Shabbir, NDMA vice-chairman Marri Sashidhar Reddy and Vijayashanti lay shattered.
Only K. Jana Reddy, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, who is the working president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, D.K. Aruna and J. Geetha Reddy, managed a win while 10 of their colleagues in the last cabinet bit the dust.
Mr. Lakshmaiah failed to insulate himself from the two factors and lost the battle to the TRS in Jangaon in Warangal. His colleague Basavaraj Saraiah in Warangal (East) also lost to a former colleague Konda Surekha by a heavy margin of over 52,000 votes as the latter contested on the TRS ticket.
Anti-incumbency also drowned D. Sridhar Babu in Manthani and P. Sudershan Reddy in Bodhan. Former Deputy Chief Minister C. Damodar Rajanarasimha lost to Babu Mohan (TRS) in Andole, V. Sunita Reddy lost to Ch. Madan Reddy, also of TRS at Narsapur and G. Prasad Kumar lost in Vikarabad. In Hyderabad, both Danam Nagender (Khairatabad) and M. Mukesh Goud (Goshamahal) faced Modi wave instead of the TRS besides of course the anti-incumbency factor. They lost to BJP candidates.
