Hyderabad: Brushing aside the TRS claims that the TD has outlived its presence in TS, the party’s central committee general secretary Nara Lokesh on Tuesday said the TD was strong as it ever was in TS and it will remain so. He expressed confidence that the TD will stage a comeback in the 2019 elections. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle at the TD headquarters on Tuesday, Mr Lokesh said, “The 2019 election results will be totally different from the recent GHMC polls. The Congress vote shifted to the TRS while TD’s vote share remained intact. Of course we lost seats, but not votes.”
The newly-appointed party general secretary, who headed the TD’s poll campaign in the GHMC polls, was optimistic of a change in voters’ mindset in the coming days in favour of the TD. “We are quite confident that TD will stage a comeback soon, a few MLAs might have deserted us, but everyone is aware how the TRS is luring our MLAs with various kinds of packages. However, our cadre is still with us, we will concentrate more on party organisational matters in the coming days,” the TD leader said.
He said that there was no need for changes at the top, “We need changes at constituency-level in TS which we will do so,” he said. Attributing TRS’ victory in the GHMC polls due to the decrease in the vote share of the Congress, Mr Lokesh said, “The Congress vote bank has collapsed. Their earlier vote share of over 35 per cent came down to just 10 per cent in the GHMC polls. This went to the TRS kitty, helping it win.” “It’s shocking the way the Congress lost its base in the city. Their candidates lost deposits in 55 of the 150 divisions, whereas TD-BJP vote share was near 25 per cent (barring old city divisions). The TD came second in as many as 65 divisions. That’s remarkable,” he said.
When asked why Seemandhra voters didn’t vote for TD this time, Mr Lokesh said, “Because of the fear psychosis created by the TRS that if they don’t, the government may initiate certain steps to harass them in the future.” “All, including the ordinary voter in TS will soon come to know about failures of the TRS government to keep its promises. The mindset of the voter will definitely change and then, the TD-BJP alone will be left as a credible alternative. It will happen,” he said.
Mr Lokesh said that neutral voters preferred not to venture out on polling day due to TRS claims that it would bag the mayor’s post with the help of ex-officio members. “This led to neutral voters feeling that there would be no use of them exercise their franchise,” he said.
