Congress so near yet so far?

Congress leaders in Telangana were on the backfoot all through the fortnight-long high voltage election campaign unable to cash in on creation of separate State and counter the criticism of TRS.

At the end of the election campaign on Monday, many leaders wondered whether the party had made its impact felt and how it could not take TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao head on. Several reasons are cited for the lackadaisical campaign by the party leaders. The campaign committee failed to put in place its programme effectively despite the AICC identifying as many as 40 leaders as star campaigners.

The party had its own set of problems pertaining to the selection of candidates. With rebels raising their ugly head, the party had a tough time convincing them to withdraw from the race.

By the time, the party got its act together KCR took a head start by extensively touring Telangana addressing as many as 10 meetings a day in a district. With almost all the top guns of the Congress leaders such as former Deputy Chief Minister C. Damodar Rajanarasimha, TPCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah, working president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, former Minister K. Jana Reddy and former PCC chief D. Srinivas preferring to confine themselves to the respective constituencies, collective campaign took a beating.

The party had no option but to seek the services of AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Central leaders – Digvijaya Singh, Vayalar Ravi, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Jairam Ramesh -- stayed put here to monitor the campaign. AICC SC cell chairman Koppula Raju turned out to be the key figure in planning the strategy for Telangana.

The Congress leaders harped on creation of Telangana and promised to provide good governance and ensure prosperity of the new State. This was countered by KCR, who said if at all any party had to take credit for Telangana, it should go to his party. Congress leaders tried to project KCR as power hungry leader, who had given a go-by to his promise of making a Dalit, first Chief Minister of Telangana.

With each passing day, KCR’s attack became razor sharp as he dared the Congress leadership’s right to ask him to merge his party. When Ms. Gandhi and Mr. Rahul Gandhi said KCR had gone back on his promise of merger, the TRS chief did not mince words questioning whether Congress gave Telangana only to ensure the merger of his party.

Overall, Ms. Gandhi and Mr. Rahul Gandhi tried to impress upon the voters that it was Congress, which had fulfilled the promise of Telangana. They said only a stable government at the Centre and Telangana would ensure all-round development of the new State. In a last ditch attempt to woo voters, the Congress came up with its announcement of Rs. 2 lakh crop loan waiver.

A senior TPCC leader said Congress party is in a comfortable position but the lacklustre campaign, however, did not impress voters.