The landslide victory of the Congress in Karnataka has come as a shot in the arm for its Telangana unit, which has so far remained lame a duck, being out of power for two consecutive terms.
As the results of the Karnataka elections trickled in, the Congress workers went into raptures as they believed that this was an indication of the way the wind was blowing in Telangana also.
An elated TPCC president A Revanth Reddy said, “We are going to come to power in Telangana in the ensuing Assembly elections. There can be no doubt about it.”
Also read: Landslide victory for Congress in Karnataka, BJP decimated
Celebrates the victory
Congress workers went around the city on bikes, holding aloft party flags, celebrating the occasion while the leaders, with their hopes soaring of coming to power in Telangana, began planning what they should do to add more muscle to the campaign against the BRS government in the state.
As the party has been out of power for nearly nine years, it has been waiting thirstily to get back into the driving seat but so far dame luck did not smile on it.
Now that the Congress has decimated the BJP, perceived to be invincible in Telangana, the party leaders believe an encore in Telangana was also not impossible.
The Congress is determined to change the narrative that the only party that could challenge the BRS is the BJP.
In fact, it has been alleged that both the BRS and the BJP had carried out a calibrated campaign that the BJP was on the rise to confine the Congress to the fringes as the BRS was scared of the Congress breathing a new life and dislodging it from power.
The party leaders heaved a sigh of relief that they do not have to live in constant dread of their colleagues leaving the party in search of greener pastures.
Also read: Former CS Somesh Kumar named chief advisor to Telangana CM KCR
Hoping for leaders to join
On the contrary, they hope, there would be an influx of leaders from other parties into the Congress. They also expect those who went to the BJP and have already made a commitment to them might begin looking at the Congress.
According to sources, former MP Ponguleti Srinivasul Reddy and former minister Jupally Krishna Rao, who fell from grace in the BRS and are now under suspension, are now veering to the conclusion that the Congress, in the changing political mosaic, is probably the go-to party.
BJP and Congress leaders have already invited them to join their ranks with wide open arms and till now they were keeping their fingers crossed over the Karnataka result.
Now that it has come out and the message is clear, they might prefer the grand old party.
In fact, for both the leaders, the Congress is a better habitat to grow than the BJP which is highly centralised, and leaders from other parties have very little wiggle room there compared to those who are from the RSS stock.
Also read: Revanth Reddy prevented him from entering new Telangana Secretariat
With Congress connections
This apart, Krishna Rao carries the Congress DNA in him as he was a minister in the Congress regime in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
As far as Srinivas Reddy is concerned, he might also be more at home in the Congress as he is basically a disciple of AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who too has Congress DNA in him, though he has nothing to do with the party now.
The grand old party leaders believe that the only caveat to capturing power in Telangana is that all the leaders must work shoulder to shoulder, burying their egos deep inside them.
That is what they had done in Karnataka and if the leaders in Telangana follow suit, they might be able to make the BRS run for its money, or for that matter might even turn the tables.
This is because KCR is perceived to be carrying a heavy load of anti-incumbency on his shoulders.
There is also hope that Rahul Gandhi’s mojo which worked in Karnataka would also work in Telangana as he traversed through several Assembly segments while on his Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Rahul Gandhi interacted with people from various walks of life as he moved on through Telangana. His Bharat Jodo Yatra wound through 19 Assembly segments and seven Parliamentary constituencies in October and November last year.
