Congress wiped out from Telangana, Seemandhra

The Congress high command had a false sense of security that it would at least emerge as the single largest party in Telangana while it would lose in Seemandhra due to the state division. However, in reality, it got routed in both regions.

After winning in two successive Assembly elections, in 2004 and 2009, the Congress is now on the verge of being wiped out from Telangana and Seemandhra.

In Seemandhra, as had been predicted, the voters made their anger clear at the Congress while in Telangana, the party was in for a shocker as it became clear that the Congress leadership had failed to cash in on the sentiment after fulfilling the six-decade long demand for a separate state.

In Seemandhra, among the 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress did not won a single one. APCC president Mr N. Raghuveera Reddy, former PCC president Mr Botsa Satyanarayana and several former state ministers and Union ministers were among the giants who fell on Friday.

In Telangana, the Congress had expected to get majority seats and emerge as the single largest party. But out of the 119 Assembly seats, the party won 10 seats and was leading in nine. Out of 17 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress was leading in only one seat with all sitting MPs, including Union ministers, on the verge of defeat.

Chief minister aspirants Mr Damodar Raja Narasimha and Mr D. Srinivas and even Telangana PCC chief, Mr Ponnala Laxmaiah, were defeated.

The prominent winners in Telangana were Ms J. Geetha Reddy, Mr K. Jana Reddy and Mr N. Uttam Kumar Reddy.

Till Friday, Telangana Congress leaders had seemed confident of emerging as the single largest party that would lead to a hung Assembly and were busy at Gandhi Bhavan mobilizing support from other parties. But on Friday, no leader, including TPCC president Mr Laxmaiah, were seen at Gandhi Bhavan. Only office staff and one Congress leader, Mr T. Kumar Rao, were present at Gandhi Bhavan.

Indira Bhavan, the APCC headquarters, was also deserted.