HYDERABAD: Internal politics and strength of political rivals adversely affected the Congress in the state. Except Nagarjunasagar, the party fared poorly in all five byelections that have been conducted since 2018. The TRS won Huzurnagar, Nagarjunasagar and Munugode while the BJP clinched Dubbak and Huzurabad Assembly seats.
Byelection to Huzurnagar was necessitated as sitting Congress MLA N. Uttam Kumar Reddy vacated the seat after winning the Nalgonda Lok Sabha. His wife N.Padmavathi Reddy contested in the bypoll but lost to TRS candidate S. Saidi Reddy.
Following the death of TRS MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy, a byelection was held in Dubbak Assembly constituency. BJP’s M. Raghunandan Rao pipped TRS candidate Solipet Sujatha. The Congress candidate Cheraku Srinivas Reddy managed a mere 13.48 per cent votes.
Following the death of TRS sitting MLA Nomula Narsimhaiah, byelection was necessitated in Nagarjunasagar. TRS candidate Nomula Bhagat won with 47.05 per cent votes while veteran Congress leader K. Jana Reddy got 37.16 per cent votes. In a high-voltage byelection in Huzurabad, BJP’s Etala Rajendar got 51.96 per cent votes and defeated TRS candidate Gellu Srinivas Yadav. Congress nominee Balmoor Venkat got only 1.46 per cent votes.
In Munugode TRS candidate K. Prabhakar Reddy secured 42.95 per cent votes against the 38.38 per cent polled in favour of BJP’s Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy. Congress nominee Palvai Sravanthi lost her deposit with 10.58 per cent votes.
TPCC senior vice-president Mallu Ravi said that people voted for Congress party in Munugode to save the democracy in spite of financial temptations by the TRS and BJP. This defeat of the Congress will lay the foundation for Congress resurgence in the 2023 general elections, he said.
However, the recent blame game among senior party leaders has affected Congress prospects even as the party cadre is worried about their future in state politics.
