Congress party has paid a heavy price for its decision to divide Andhra Pradesh with voters in both the regions teaching a fitting lesson in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections and pushing it to its all-time worst performance.
If it was a whitewash in Seemandhra where the party failed to win a single seat out of 175 constituencies, in Telangana it was relegated to the third place by winning merely 21 seats out of 119. It was in 1994 that the Congress won 26 seats but Friday’s combined results in the two regions gave the party only 20 seats.
With an eye on making gains in Telangana after creation of Telangana and confining YSR Congress president Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy to Seemandhra region, the party’s calculations went awry if the performance is any indication.
Without any mercy, voters rejected Congress candidates including top leaders in both the regions. Leading the ‘hall of shame’ were TPCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah and APCC chief N. Raghuveera Reddy, who not only lost their seats but presided over the party’s defeat. Almost all the Ministers in the Kiran Kumar Reddy government barring four, who contested on Congress tickets, were defeated. Two former PCC chiefs – D. Srinivas and Botcha Satyanarayana too faced drubbing.
While it was no secret that Congress was hopelessly placed in Seemandhra, leaders did not expect such a dismal show in Telangana. T-Congress leaders admitted that anti-incumbency coupled with strong wave in favour of Narendra Modi and TRS campaign went against them.
The TPCC chief summed up the mood saying that the vote for change that was visible at the national level was reflected in Andhra Pradesh also. “Victory and defeat are natural and I am unduly disappointed about my defeat,” he said.
Seemandhra Congress leaders said that the results were on expected lines for them. “We had pinned hopes on seniors like Botcha Satyanarayana, Raghuveera Reddy, Kanna Lakshminarayana and Anam Ramanarayana Reddy giving a tough fight but they were swept away in the wave in favour of TDP-BJP combine,” a senior APCC office-bearer said.
Mr. Raghuveera Reddy said he was humbled and accepts the verdict and promised all cooperation to the new government in Andhra Pradesh. “We expect the new government to stand by people,” he said.
Union Minister K. Chiranjeevi in a statement said: “Though we are disappointed by the results, there is an urgent need for us to analyse the reasons for poor showing and know the causes why the party has alienated itself from the common man. We have to analyse the lapses on our part during the 10-year rule and rebuild party from the grassroots level.”
