Kharge reportedly remarked that it is impossible for the Congress to get elected again in Telangana whenever elections are held.
Published Oct 21, 2025 | 9:35 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 21, 2025 | 5:06 PM
Mallikarjun Kharge at LB Stadium
Synopsis: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is deeply concerned over the continuing slide of the Congress in Telangana even before it completes two years in office. Kharge voiced the concerns during interactions with Telangana party leaders who call on him as a courtesy visit or to voice their grievances.
Opposition parties being critical of a ruling dispensation is no news. But what if the leadership at the highest level of a party is unhappy with the functioning of its own government? That’s news, surely, right?
This is the truth insofar as the Congress government in Telangana is concerned. Going by the accounts of Telangana Congress leaders, All India Congress Committee (AICC) President Mallikarjun Kharge is deeply concerned over the continuing slide of the Congress in Telangana even before it completes two years in office.
Kharge’s disappointment stems from primarily four reasons: 1) failure to implement the pre-poll promises; 2) overall governance being seen in a poor light by the people; 3) infighting among ministers denting the image of the party and the government; and 4) bad handling of enhanced reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in education, employment and public life.
Kharge, according to sources, has been voicing these concerns during the course of interactions with Telangana party leaders who call on him as a courtesy visit or to voice their grievances.
During one such interaction with a small group of MLAs which called on him recently when he was recuperating after getting discharged from the hospital, Kharge is understood to have said that the government should have adopted a time-bound, methodical approach towards implementing the “six guarantees” promised by Sonia Gandhi ahead of the elections in Telangana in December 2023.
In reality, implementation of the promised ₹2 lakh loan waiver was shoddy while the promised annual assistance to farmers (Rytu Bharosa) was also not paid on time and fully. The free bus ride for women proved to be more negative than positive.
Crucially, the two main promises — ₹2,500 monthly assistance for women and enhanced pension for the aged (₹4,000 from the present ₹2,000) remain unfulfilled till date.
Failure on the part of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and ministers to present a picture of cohesive functioning, more talk and less action on the ground, ministers badmouthing their own colleagues in public have also been pointed out by the Congress president as “drag factors”.
As someone with vast experience in public life having got elected to the Lok Sabha multiple times during his long political career, Kharge reportedly remarked that it is impossible for the Congress to get elected again in Telangana whenever elections are held. Congress legislators before whom he made these comments sensed “deep anguish” in the party chief over the state of affairs.
On the BC reservation issue as well, the Congress president is of the view that the Telangana party/government went about it in such a manner that it badly wounded itself rather than putting the Opposition on the mat.
From the time it took up the issue over a year ago, the government should have involved all other parties in each and every step. Instead, its approach was one of getting brownie points.
However, when it failed to seal the issue, it gave the Opposition the handle to accuse the Congress of never being sincere in its intent, was Kharge’s view. Akin to how Abhimanyu entered the battlefield without knowing how to exit and ultimately got cornered.
On the ground, the issue resulted in deep changes in socio-political equations which could potentially damage the Congress in the long run. Traditionally, the under-privileged Dalits and the powerful Reddy community have been supporters of the Congress and they played a significant role in the victory of the party in the 2023 Assembly elections.
By taking up higher reservation for BCs, at the instance of Rahul Gandhi, and projecting it as a RARE model (Rahul-Revanth), and yet failing to convert it into a reality, the party lost whatever little support it had among them.
Backward classes have essentially been supporters of either the BJP or the BRS. On the other hand, the move angered the big chunk of Congress supporters among Reddys and the Dalits, evidence of which is being noticed by ministers and party leaders during their visits to constituencies.
It’s a case of being neither here, nor there.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
