All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh has said that the Congress conceded the demand for a separate Telangana despite knowing fully well that it would be routed in Andhra Pradesh but its electoral loss in Telangana was owing to the party’s weakness in moulding public opinion.
The party could not convince people that it took risks in ensuring the passage of the Reorganisation Bill in Parliament, Mr. Singh said at the inaugural of a two-day brainstorming session on strengthening the Congress in Telangana, on the sprawling campus of a college at Sheriguda village near Ibrahimpatan here.
“The Congress did not win a single Assembly seat in Andhra Pradesh. We knew it would happen. But the party could not backtrack on its promise to concede a separate Telangana, given its 130 year old history of struggles which also brought freedom for the country.”
Mr. Singh said the party was disappointed by the poll results both at the Centre and State. It did not imagine that it would win only 44 Lok Sabha constituencies. However, this is not new to Congress as it faced a similar situation at the Centre in 1977 and State in 1994. The party bounced back to form governments both at the Centre and State subsequently.
He criticised leaders who pointed a finger at Sonia Gandhi for the poll debacle and said they had in the past launched a similar campaign against her, stating that former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam refused to administer the oath to her if she were elected the Prime Ministerial candidate. Dr. Kalam denied the allegation later.
Mr. Singh traced the BJP’s victory to the growing aspirations of people to become rich, which he said Narendra Modi had managed to tap. Mr. Modi is an expert speaker who is also adept at false promises. “He did nothing except inaugurating projects conceived by the Congress led UPA government in the last 70 days. On the other hand, the Congress could not take credit for its achievements.”
Telangana Congress Committee president Ponnala Laxmaiah said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had bragged about Hyderabad being recognised as Information Technology Investment Region but it was actually the success of the Congress. He said Mr. Rao was in the habit of raising the aspirations of people sky high and letting them down. It was evident from the promise on debt waiver.
The committee working president, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, appealed to workers to forgive the leaders for their mistakes in the elections. AICC secretary Ramachandra Kuntia also spoke.
