Telangana Congress' September meeting a swan song as BRS, BJP embark on election campaign blitz

HYDERABAD: Even before any of the political parties in Telangana could kickstart its public campaigns for the upcoming Assembly elections in the State, the Congress began its preparation by hosting a pompous two-day Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in September to chalk out its road map for the elections. The CWC meeting was followed by an announcement of six guarantees to the people of Telangana if they came to power, by none other than Sonia Gandhi. The top brass of Congress including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Chidambaram among others were in Hyderabad for the meetings, promising a riveting campaign.

It's almost a month since the meeting took place and with it faded the blitz of the grand old party. Post the CWC event, there has been no major road shows or public meetings. In fact, Telangana Congress has only been in the news over the past several weeks for appeasing dissidents, resolving infighting within the party for MLA tickets and for delaying its announcement of candidates.

In contrast, the BRS and the BJP have been firing on all cylinders since mid-September. For the BRS, Working President and IT Minister KT Rama Rao along with Harish Rao have been leading the campaign by organising a combo of public meetings and Government programmes together to publicise their work as well as launch several welfare programmes. The BJP didn't leave any stone unturned and ensured that their stalwarts including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda were on the ground to set the ball rolling. All these leaders visited the State and hosted atleast two public meetings.

With elections to be held in Telangana on November 30, BRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has announced a grandiose tour across the State from October 15, covering close to 41 constituency in 17 days. Meanwhile, the Congress which had planned to host a bus yatra with all its senior leaders across districts after its CWC meeting, has decided to postpone it indefinitely. According to TPCC president Revanth Reddy, the leadership team including Rahul Gandhi have decided to focus on campaigns in other State, exposing how low the pecking order of Telangana is for Rahul Gandhi and his troops.

Similarly, the Congress has decided to release its manifesto after KCR announces its promises, which is being claimed to be a mind-bender. It looks like the party would want to thoroughly examine the BRS's promises and then release its version.

It's not about the bus yatra and manifesto, looks like there would be a delay in declaration of candidates as too as there are too many aspirants for a single seat. Even if they do declare the candidates, the public is casting doubts over the administrative capabilities of the Congress leaders. Revanth Reddy has always been in the opposition, a few others like V Hanumantha Rao, Madhu Yashki Goud and Uttam Kumar Reddy have only been Union Ministers with no cabinet post. Komatireddy Venkat Reddy is the only exception who was the Minister for Information Technology in YS Rajasekhar Reddy's Government.

The Congress party in Telangana seems to be losing the momentum it had gained after its CWC meeting in September. If the party does not get its act together soon, it could find itself at a significant disadvantage in the upcoming elections.