Congress routed in Andhra Pradesh, fails to benefit in Telangana too

Hyderabad: Poll verdict given by Seemandhra people has the Congress biting the dust for it failed to win even a single Assembly or Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh. There are 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in the region.
APCC chief N. Raghuveera Reddy, former PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana and several recent former state ministers and Union ministers are among the prominent losers.

Mr Satyanarayana and his two brothers fought for the Assembly seats while his wife Jhansi contested for the Lok Sabha seat. All the four were defeated. Another major debacle was that of Union minister from Kakinada M.M. Pallam Raju, losing to last minute Congress defector Thota Narasimham, who won on a TD ticket from Kakinada.

In Telangana too, the Congress leadership failed to cash in on the creation of a separate state by fulfilling six decades of Telangana people’s dream, with the denizens favouring the “fighter” for Telangana state over its “giver”. However, its performance was not that dismal in the soon-to-be new state when compared to Seemandhra, for it won 17 out of the 119 Assembly seats and two out of the 17 Lok Sabha seats.

Former minister and APCC manifesto committee chairman Anam Ramanarayana Reddy lost in Atmakur Assembly seat in Nellore district. All it’s sitting MPs, including Union ministers are trailing. Peddapalli MP G. Vivek and his brother G. Vinod, who switched to the TRS from the Congress and returned back to its fold, after the decision of state bifurcation, were defeated.

Chief Ministerial aspirants Damodar Raja Narasimha, D. Srinivas were trounced too. Telangana PCC Chief Ponnala Laxmaiah got defeated from Janagama Assembly seat in Warangal district.

J. Geetha Reddy, K. Jana Reddy, and N. Uttam Kumar Reddy emerged as prominent winners in Telangana. Former PCC president D. Srinivas and former Minister Shabbier Ali were defeated for the third time continuously in five years. They lost in 2009 general elections and contested again in 2010 in bye-elections. In the present elections too they experienced the same fate.

Telangana Congress leaders seemed confident of a win, till the outcome was declared. They were seen mobilising support from other parties at Gandhi Bhavan. But on Friday, no leader, including Telangana PCC president were seen at the Gandhi Bhavan. Only office staff and one Congress leader T. Kumar Rao was seen at Gandhi Bhavan.
In APCC headquarters at Indira Bhavan, no single leader was spotted either. After winning in two Assembly elections continually in 2004 and 2009, the Congress has now been browbeaten in both states.