Hyderabad: After their successful attempt to defeat the Congress at the MLC elections from the Assembly quota, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti is likely to concentrate on the Council elections from the graduates’ constituency, where former Congress minister T. Jeevan Reddy is contesting.
With the defection of two MLAs, the Congress leadership has lost hope of winning the one MLC seat from the MLAs quota which was previously deemed possible.
The Congress leadership was hoping to win one MLC seat with the support of the Telugu Desam. The Congress had 19 MLAs, the TD two. which would have been enough.
But with two MLAs from the Congress and one from the TD announcing that they will join the TRS, the Congress strength dropped to 18 and with it, went the hope of winning the MLC seat.
To ensure that there is no Congress presence in the Council after the retirement of its last members on March 29, the TRS is now focusing on the polls from the graduates quota. Mr Jeevan Reddy is contesting the MLC elections from the constituency that covers the old Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Medak districts.
The TRS has decided against contesting the MLC elections from the graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies. This ought to have given Mr Jeevan Reddy an edge over his opponent Chandrasekhar Goud, something that TRS leaders accept.
But TRS leaders also believe that if the party leadership decides to support Mr Goud, the situation can change. The leadership has not take a decision on supporting Mr Goud.
In the recent assembly elections, the TRS had won a majority of seats in the four districts. Congress leaders must win this seat at any cost to have its voice in the Upper House. If the TRS leadership decides to stop it, the Congress will have a tough fight.
