Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy along with party senior leaders addressing a media conference in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
Expressing satisfaction over the performance of the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls in TelanganaTPCC president and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said people have endorsed his assertion that the Lok Sabha polls are a referendum to the 100 days people centric rule of the party in Telangana.
BRS behaved like a suicide squad
At the same time, he alleged that the Congress would have performed much better but for the conspiracy of the main Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) which mortgaged and sacrificed its interests to defeat it and thereby ensuring the victory of theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates.
“The party behaved like a suicide squad to hamper the Congress’ prospects. This is evident from the manner in which the BRS forfeited deposits in seven of the eight constituencies won by the BJP. BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao deliberately fielded weak candidates to ensure the BJP’s victory,” he said.
He cited the example of voting in Siddipet assembly segment, a bastion for the BRS (earlier TRS) since its formation in 2001. “The BRS which won with huge majorities of close to one lakh votes in successive elections in Siddipet constituency secured just over 2,000 votes lead in the Lok Sabha elections. Over 60,000 votes were transferred to the BJP and the Congress lost Medak Lok Sabha seat because of the BJP’s vote gain in Siddipet,” he analysed.
BRS vote share dropped, BJP’s share increased
Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao deceived Medak candidate P. Venkatarami Reddy and other candidates as could be seen from the steep drop in the BRS’ vote share in Lok Sabha polls. “From 37.5 per cent in the State assembly elections, BRS vote share fell down to 16.5 per cent. The BJP which had little over 15 per cent vote share in the State Assembly Polls 2023 secured 35.5 per cent in Lok Sabha polls. This clearly shows the manner in which the BRS votes are transferred to the BJP,” he said.
The BRS which has 39 seats in the assembly could manage higher vote share in just three segments – Gajwel, Siddipet and Sircilla – the three constituencies represented by Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao, T. Harish Rao and K.T. Rama Rao. “This is a political atrocity committed by the BRS to ensure defeat of the Congress candidates,” he said.
The BRS president, on his part, did not attend the assembly session nor was forthcoming in giving suggestions to the Congress Government in spite of the preparedness of the ruling party in accepting constructive suggestions. The TPCC president said the time had come for the BRS leaders and cadre to observe the situation and take a decision at least now. Mr. Revanth Reddy’s claim assumes significance in the light of the Congress’ assertion that the party would lift the gates, for leaders from other parties to join, once the election season was over.
Congress’ vote share improved
Mr. Revanth Reddy said the Congress’ vote share improved from 39.5% in the previous assembly polls to 41.5% now while the number of seats more than doubled from three to eight. In addition, the Congress won the Secunderabad Cantonment assembly seat which was hitherto held by the BRS. “The verdict is clearly in favour of our governance in the past few months,” he said.
To a question, he said the BRS’ conspiracies to destablise the Government would continue as long as Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao was in politics. “KCR is a political gambler. The conspiracies will continue as long as he is in politics,” he said.
