Congress sees its Telangana campaign as a Rahul-Revanth effort to take on an undisputed mass leader like KCR in the poll-bound state.
Rahul Gandhi with TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy during the Congress Vijaybheri Yatra in Telangana on Wednesday, 19 October, 2023. (Supplied)
Telangana Chief Minister and BRS patriarch K Chandrashekar Rao’s decision to contest from Kamareddy as his second seat may still be a puzzle for his partymen, but it has surely landed the Congress in a conundrum.
Two lists with names of 100 candidates so far, and the grand old party is still unable to decide on its candidate for Kamareddy, a seat that has turned into a high-profile contest with the candidature of KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known.
KCR contesting from Kamareddy in the 30 November Assembly polls is being seen as both an opportunity and a challenge by the Congress, especially its Telangana chief A Revanth Reddy.
Sources in the Congress tell South First that the party has been weighing the pros and cons of fielding Revanth Reddy against KCR in Kamareddy, especially after BJP fielded its Backward Class (BC) heavyweight, Eatala Rajender, from Gajwel — KCR’s home turf.
With his candidature against the chief minister, Rajender is hoping to either emerge as a giant slayer or at least give KCR a run for his money in Gajwel.
A similar arrangement in Kamareddy would lend credence to Revanth Reddy’s claim to fame of being the only leader who has taken on KCR unabashedly, irrespective of the party he belonged to.
Revanth Reddy was a TDP leader before joining the Congress in Telangana. The move to contest against KCR in Kamareddy would cement the perception of Reddy taking KCR head-on even if he contests unsuccessfully against the Telangana chief minister.
On the contrary, if Revanth Reddy emerges as a giant slayer in the electoral contest, he would have proved his mettle and would be the undisputed chief minister candidate if the Congress gathers enough numbers for a change of regime.
At the very least, a successful contest against KCR in a seat like Kamareddy would silence Revanth Reddy’s baiters in the party.
While the optics of taking on a mass leader like KCR is a sure way of increasing Revanth Reddy’s political heft, it comes with its own set of challenges. Congress leaders say it would be tough for Revanth Reddy to contest from two seats — especially given the fact that he lost from his home turf of Kodangal in the 2018 Assembly elections.
While the party’s surveys show him ahead in the seat, it would be unwise to take Kodangal for granted. Moreover, as Telangana Congress president, Revanth Reddy, even if unsuccessful in his contest against KCR in Kamareddy, cannot lose by a humiliating margin.
Both seats will thus need his attention.
“Fielding him from Kamareddy will also mean tying him down to two seats since they will need all of his attention. The Congress is banking on Rahul Gandhi’s popularity in Telangana and Revanth Reddy’s drive to fuel our election campaign. It is a Rahul-Revanth campaign for us. Tying him down to two seats will take away from his pan-state effort,” a senior AICC office bearer told South First.
The upcoming Telangana Assembly election has provided an opportunity for Revanth Reddy to break out of his caste leader image and gain a following across the state.
As long a shot as it may be, it is still an opportunity to emerge as a pan-state leader, a quality that is still the USP of KCR alone in the political landscape of Telangana.
The choice of being a David to KCR’s Goliath or focussing on gaining a pan-state popularity is at the heart of conundrum that Revanth Reddy currently faces.
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