Telangana Congress party, in the dog-house since its defeat in 2014, was finally getting its act together and has adopted an offensive posture to take on the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti in the next year’s Assembly elections.
The State Congress Committee president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, bolstered by the success of his ongoing Bus Yatra has come up with a new strategy to corner the ruling party.
The plan, apart from fielding strong and winnable candidates in the strongholds of the TRS including the constituencies of the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his son K Taraka Rama Rao, includes exploring the possibility of tying up with Telugu Desam party, an unthinkable proposition for both the parties till the recent past.
When asked about the possibility, Uttam Kumar Reddy said, “There is no hard and fast rule that the Congress party can not forge an alliance with the TDPIJ We are not averse to join hands with the TDP in the next elections”. Thoug the Congress and Telugu Desam have always been a bitter opponent and anti-Congressism was the raison d’etre of TDP since its formation in 1982, both the parties were in desperate situation since the formation of Telangana state and looking for a desperate solution.
While Congress was in a fight back mode to reclaim its prime position, the TDP was in a still bad shape reduced to only two members in the state assembly. However in terms of mass base, the party still has a significant vote share of nearly 20% and the Congress realises that if it joins hands with the TDP it can give a tough challenge to the TRS. Congress had polled 25% votes against TRS’ 35% in 2014.