Wake up call for Congress as BJP steals the show in Telangana MLC polls with two seats

Congress faces setback in Telangana MLC polls as two BJP-backed candidates win, prompting introspection and upcoming challenges for the party.

The ruling Congress has suffered a set back in the just concluded Telangana MLC polls to two Teachers’ constituencies and a Graduates’ constituency with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) backed candidates bagging two seats while a Teachers’ union candidate won the other seat.

The results should be a wake up call for the Congress party because a battery of Ministers and the Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy himself had campaigned for the party backed the candidate, Narender Reddy, from the Karimnagar-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Medak Graduates’ constituency holding three separate meetings last month to garner support for the nominee. The Congress party did not openly come out in support of the teachers constituencies candidates although it was understood that they had backed some candidates unofficially.

The results would have been different had the main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) entered the fray. For reasons best known to them, the BRS leadership preferred not to contest the polls. The outcome of the results has already generated a bitter war of words with the Congress accusing the BJP-BRS entering into an ‘unholy nexus’ while the BJP claiming that the popularity of the Congress party was on the wane and the leadership of Mr. Revanth Reddy has failed in the State.

For the record, Mr. Anji Reddy - backed by the BJP - won from the Karimnagar-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Medak Graduates’ constituency trouncing Mr. Narender Reddy, who was said to be strong candidate. Mr. Anji Reddy scrapped through with the second preference votes even as the Congress backed nominee insisted that the third preferential votes may also be taken into consideration, a demand turned down by the Election officials.

The BJP backed candidate for the Karimnagar-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Medak Teachers’ constituency Malka Komaraiah, chairperson of a reputed group of educational institutions in Hyderabad, humbled seasoned teacher union leaders including Vanga Mahender Reddy of the Progressive Recognised Teachers’ Union (TS) to make his political debut as an elected representative.

PRTU (TS) candidate Pingali Sripal Reddy won from the Nalgonda-Khammam-Warangal Teachers’ constituency defeating the sitting MLC A. Narsi Reddy as well as the BJP backed candidate Sarvotham Reddy.

The Teachers’ constituencies result has once again brought into sharp focus as to how the mainstream unions like the PRTU, State Teachers Union (STU) and the United Teachers Federation (UTF) have failed to win the confidence of the teachers. The BJP affiliated Telangana Teachers’ Association (TAPAS), though not very strong, had worked overtime to ensure the victory of Mr. Komaraiah.