Telangana: Will poll tickets to so many turncoats bode well for Congress?

Everything was looking hunky dory for the Congress in Telangana five months ago, when it somewhat unexpectedly came to power in the state for the first time in November 2023. But now, internal trouble is rocking the party in many parliamentary constituencies.

Many see this as the result of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s aggressive poaching of Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) leaders. In a hurry to weaken the BRS, he lured scores of its senior leaders into Congress.

Unfazed Revanth

Revanth Reddy does not seem to be worried about the bad blood it has generated in his own party as his only aim is to maim the BRS led by former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who got him, then a Telugu Desam Party MLA, arrested in a vote-for-note case in June 2015.

Revanth has almost achieved the objective. Many local BRS strongmen have flocked to the Congress. Though the BRS looks like a bare skeleton following the desertions, the move has triggered trouble in the Congress.

Ignoring Madiga community

Motku Narasihmulu, a former minister and a Congress leader, alleged that the Madigas were given a raw deal by the Congress. He sat on a day-long ‘deeksha’ on Thursday at his house in Secunderabad demanding Lok Sabha seats for the Madiga community.

Madigas constitute roughly 50 per cent of the total SC population in the state. Dalits form 15 per cent of the state’s population of 3,50,03,674, according to the 2011 Census. The Congress approach towards the Madigas has even left many insiders unhappy.

Madigas protest

Of the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, Peddapalli, Warangal, and Nagarkurnool are reserved for SCs. The Congress has given all seats to Malas, a numerically small but socially advanced section of SCs.

What triggered the protests among the Madigas was the way the Congress picked up the BRS candidate Dr Kadiayam Kavya for the Warangal Lok Sabha constituency. Kavya, along with her father Kadiyam Srihari, a former BRS deputy chief minister, had joined the party just the day before, in an overnight operation.

Trouble in meetings

The choice upset local Congress leaders as she was already the BRS candidate. None of the election meetings held by Kavya and her father were free of bickering. In some places, the police had to intervene to control the rival groups.

The Congress won all the seven Assembly segments that fall under the Warangal Lok Sabha constituency in 2023. “But the vertical split in the party into two groups — one supporting and the other opposing her — has become a headache for the high command,” said a party leader on the condition of anonymity.

Secunderabad unrest

A similar situation has complicated matters in the prestigious Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, where Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy is the BJP candidate. Here, the Congress announced Danam Nagender, a BRS MLA from Khairatabad constituency, as its nominee.

Though he joined the Congress, Nagender has not resigned from the BRS. Nagender’s admission into the Congress and rewarding him with a Lok Sabha seat has not gone down well with local party leaders.

Malkajgiri too

If the Congress fails to douse the dissidence, the contest in Secunderabad is expected to turn into a straight fight between BJP and BRS, which has fielded a locally influential former minister, T Padmarao Goud.

The Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency has become another trouble spot for the Congress. Retaining the seat is a matter of prestige as it was represented by none other than Revanth Reddy himself in the outgoing House. While the BJP has fielded influential BC leader Eatal Rajender, the Congress choice is again a BRS leader, Patnam Sumathi Reddy.

More turncoats

A Zilla Parishad Chairperson, she, along with her MLC-husband Patnam Mahender Reddy, joined the Congress in February. She was rewarded with the Malkajgiri ticket.

Another turncoat causing concern among the party workers is Chevella BRS sitting MP Gaddam Ranjit Reddy. He joined the Congress in March and secured the ticket in April. He cited “evolving political scenario” as the reason for quitting the BRS.

Ranjith Reddy is locked in a triangular contest with BJP’s Konda Visweswara Reddy and BRS’s Kasani Gnaneswar.

Party hopper

Neelam Madhu, Congress candidate from the Medak Lok Sabha constituency, is facing resistance from local cadres. Madhu lost the Assembly election from Patancheru as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate in 2023.

He has the dubious record of quitting three parties in three months. He was in the BRS till November 2023. When the BRS denied him the Patancheru ticket, he joined the Congress, hoping for nomination. His name did figure in the list but was removed later due to local opposition. So, he contested the election from the BSP. Now the Congress has re-invited him to the party with the Lok Sabha ticket.

Revanth’s capital test

Among all these seats, winning Secunderabad, Malkajgiri, and Chevella, which fall in the Hyderabad Capital region, is crucial for Revanth. The party drew a blank in all the Assembly segments that fall in the region. Of the 24 seats in the capital region, the BRS bagged 16, the AIMIM won seven, while the remaining one was secured by the BJP.

Commenting on the situation, Prof Kurapati Venktanarayana said promoting defections from BRS doesn’t augur well for the Congress.

Divided opinion

“Revanth said many times that the BRS MLAs and MPs looted the state for 10 years. Now he has admitted the same people into the Congress. What is the message? He vows a convincing explanation to the voters who defeated the BRS in 2023,” said Venkatanarayana, who taught political science in Kakatiya University, Warangal.

However, noted commentator Telakapalli Ravi sees a strategy in it. “Out of power for 10 years, the Congress is badly in need of rich and influential local leaders. It is inevitable for Revanth Reddy to target the strong and rich BRS for the candidates. Admitting leaders from BRS is bound to cause internal problems but it will strengthen the Congress,” he said.