Congress Needs to Beat its Personal Best in Telangana Polls to Form Next Govt

HYDERABAD: The Congress has to register its best-ever performance over the past four decades in Telangana if it has to dethrone the BRS, analysis of the party’s previous poll performances show.

In undivided Andhra Pradesh or Telangana state, the Congress registered its best performance in Telangana region in the 1985 Assembly polls, winning 58 of 119 seats. It has never crossed the 60-seat mark, the majority required to form government, but, riding high on its superb victory in Karnataka, Congress leaders are confident of winning 70 to 85 seats.

The Congress came to power in undivided AP in 1989, 2004 and 2009 polls, mainly on the strength of its numbers in Andhra and Rayalaseema.

In 1985, the Congress won 14 seats in Telangana, while TD bagged 59 seats. The Congress won 36 seats in Andhra and Rayalaseema. In Telangana, CPI won 8 seats, CPM 7, BJP 8, Janata Party 3 and Independents 8.

In 1989, the Congress came to power by winning 181 of the 294 seats but could win only 58 seats in Telangana, while the TD bagged 19 seats, CPI 8, CPM 4, BJP 5, Janata Party 1 and Independents, 8.

In 1994, the Congress registered its worst performance in Telangana, winning just six seats, when TD formed the government in AP with a majority of 226 seats of the total 294 seats. Congress managed to win just 26 seats in the erstwhile state.

Five years later, the Congress improved its tally to 42 in Telangana, when TD retained power in AP by winning 180 seats. The Congress won 91 seats overall.

In 2004, the Congress, in alliance with TRS (now BRS), dethroned TD by winning 185 seats. In Telangana, the Congress could win 48 seats while the then TRS won 26.

In the 2009 Assembly polls, tge Congress retained power by winning 156 seats. But the Congress could win only 50 seats in Telangana, although it was two more than its share in 2004.

After the bifurcation of AP and the formation of Telangana state in 2014, the Congress suffered a big blow at the hands of the TRS, winning just 21 of 119 seats it contested in Telangana.

In the previous polls, Congress fared worse than in 2014, winning just 18 seats.

After the 2014 Assembly polls, four Congress MLAs defected to BRS, bringing down the strength of Congress in the Assembly from 21 to 17, although the Congress managed to save its Principal Opposition status.

After the 2018 Assembly polls, the situation of Congress worsened further, with 12 of its MLAs joining the BRS, reducing its strength from 18 to 6. With one more Congress MLA, Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy, quitting in 2022, its strength further came down to five. It also lost its Principal Opposition status.