Hyderabad: Congress leaders are ruing the alliance with the Telugu Desam during last year's Assembly elections which they say has turned out to be a suicidal move for the party.
The election debacle has shattered the party’s base. Besides, the much-talked-about “covert understanding” between the Congress and the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections affected it further.
A senior leader of the Congress admitted in private that its leaders took the party “to its deathbed by sleeping with the enemy during the Lok Sabha elections. Though we had some hope after winning 19 seats in the Assembly elections, the tacit understanding with the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections demoralised the cadre.”
He said it would be difficult for the party to win back the confidence of its cadres and lower-rung leaders who are the backbone of the party. “They openly witnessed the understanding of the party with the enemy in Bhongir, Nalgonda, Malkajgiri, Zaheera-bad, Secunderabad, Nizamabad, Karim-nagar, Adilabad, and Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha seats.”
The BJP backed Congress candidates in Bhongir, Malkajgiri, Nalgonda, and Zahee-rabad and the Congress won three.
Congress leaders ensured that their votes went to the BJP in Nizamabad, Karim-nagar, Secunderabad, Adilabad and Mahbub-nagar. Except for Mahbubnagar, the BJP won all the rest.
He said this covert understanding destabilised the party base and the BJP was taking advantage of it and going for the kill.
Other Congress leaders also expressed a similar opinion off the record. They felt that having a tie-up for the Assembly elections with the Telugu Desam, which had almost disappeared, was a historic blunder.
They said that having a tacit understanding with staunch rival BJP in the Lok Sabha polls completely killed the party in the state and gave the BJP an opportunity to strengthen itself.
