Hit by internal squabbles, Congress, BJP fight for second position

Though the Karnataka victory seemed to reinvigorate the Congress cadre, the leadership appears clueless on how to regain the lost ground in the State.

Hyderabad: With the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) under the leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao comfortably placed to retain power for the third consecutive time in the State, the Congress and the BJP are now locked in a battle for the second position.

The two parties, with their recent past marred by internal rifts and revolts, are struggling to keep their flock together. While the Congress is reeling under defections of several leaders and legislators during the last nine years and humiliating defeats in by-elections and looks to be in disarray, infighting and the near absence of a charismatic figure is worrying the saffron party.

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Though the Karnataka victory seemed to reinvigorate the Congress cadre, the leadership appears clueless on how to regain the lost ground in the State.

The public statements from senior leaders, with regular barbs at TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy, whose statements have caused more damage than advantage to the party, have only added to the party’s woes. Between the Congress and the BJP, however, the Karnakata victory appears to have given some psychological edge to the Congress, though it is still far from striking distance of coming to power in the State.

In 2014, the Congress won 22 seats in the 119-member Telangana Assembly, while in 2018, it could muster just 19 seats. To stay afloat in Telangana politics, Congress will have to at least emerge as the second largest party in the Assembly or else it will all be over for the grand old party here.

On the other hand, the BJP, despite a change of guard at the helm, has not seen any major change in the internal strife, which is continuing to cause concerns among the rank and file. The situation is such that any politician worth his salt will think twice before joining the BJP, which is also struggling to find a leader with mass appeal to lead from the front.

The Congress too has the same predicament, with the public not knowing who is actually in charge of affairs, given the recent retorts from senior leaders to Revanth Reddy’s free power fiasco.

With the BRS almost finalizing its candidates much in advance, it remains to be seen whether the Congress can come anywhere a close second, or be relegated to a distant second.