Reddy, steady, Yo! it's Telangana party for Congress

A resurgent and resilient Congress led by 54-year-old Anumula Revanth Reddy swept to power in Telangana. Congress won 64 seats, just four above the magic number of 60 for a majority in the 119-member legislative assembly, riding high on its 'Maarpu kavali Congress raavali' (Change needed, Congress must come to power) slogan. BRS, which was confident of scoring a hat-trick of wins with its welfare and development plank, was confined to 39 seats. A look at how it went from welfare to farewell...

Karnataka formula: With election strategist Sunil Kanugolu's planning, the Congress replicated its successful Karnataka campaign model in Telangana. This included announcing the six guarantees well in advance and conducting elaborate surveys in each constituency before giving out tickets. The party also managed to put a lid on infighting among different power centres to project a united face during campaigning.



Fatigue and broken promises: The Congress capitalised on voter fatigue for the BRS which was in power for the past nine years after Telangana was carved out of united Andhra Pradesh. It tapped into a growing perception that chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was inaccessible and had not delivered on some of his promises, like 2BHK houses for the poor. The Dalit Bandhu scheme that gave Rs 10 lakh each to Dalit families to start a business was also mired in controversies. Opposition attacks on power in the BRS being concentrated in the hands of KCR and his family also helped Congress.


CWC meeting in Hyderabad: The Congress leadership gave party cadre a boost by holding the Congress Working Committee meeting in Hyderabad on September 16 and 17. Post- Independence, this was the first time that the CWC was held in Hyderabad. The second day coincided with the anniversary of merger of erstwhile Nizam-ruled Hyderabad State into the Indian Union in 1948. Also, the top leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, Priyanka, Mallikarjun Kharge, and chief ministers of Congress-ruled states campaigned hard just before polling day. Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra also helped in building up the momentum.

Asking for one chance: Like YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, the Congress urged the people of Telangana to give it one chance to prove itself as they had already given two terms to KCR. This successfully tapped into the existing anti-incumbency against BRS.



KCR's ticket error: Political analysts say the KCR's biggest strategic mistake was giving tickets to almost all sitting BRS MLAs despite resentment against them in many constituencies. He even announced the candidates three months before polls in August. "KCR thought people vote for the BRS seeing the performance of the government in the past 10 years, not the candidates. But corruption allegations against some MLAs and other issues went against the party," analyst M Nagesh Kumar said.

Youth veer away: Unemployed youth appear to have either supported the BJP or the Congress on many seats. They were unhappy with the government for not filling up vacancies in various departments and also the Telangana State Public Service Commission paper leak cases. BRS working president KT Rama Rao tried to control the damage , but by then it was too late.



Muslims looked to Cong: The Congress managed to convince Muslims that they are a better bet than the BRS in challenging BJP at the national level.

Corruption allegations: BRS failed to successfully counter corruption allegations, especially against KCR's daughter and BRS MLC K Kavitha who has been embroiled in the Delhi excise policy scam, and in irrigation projects like the Medigadda barrage which is part of the prestigious Kaleshwaram project. The opposition accused the BRS of becoming richer with kickbacks from various development projects.

Two sides of the same coin: The Congress created the perception that the BJP and BRS were helping each other. This was strengthened after Kavitha was not arrested by the Enforcement Directorate.