Telangana Congress goes into huddle after surveys show BRS edge in Jubilee Hills

Facing a tough contest in the Jubilee Hills by-election, the Telangana Congress convened a high-level meeting led by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to address campaign shortcomings. Despite active canvassing, criticism over poor public response and controversial remarks has further complicated the party’s prospects.

Hyderabad: With several poll surveys indicating an edge for the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the Jubilee Hills by-election, the Telangana Congress went into a huddle on Sunday.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy hosted a lunch meeting for cabinet Ministers and senior leaders at his residence. Later, they, along with AICC in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan and TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud, reviewed the party’s campaign progress.

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Though almost the entire cabinet has been actively campaigning in various parts of the constituency over the past few days, Congress leaders appeared somewhat uneasy. The State leadership is learnt to have expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of intensity shown by some Ministers and the absence of coordination with the cadre at the ground level. They were reportedly instructed to intensify the campaign.

Adding to the concern, the Chief Minister’s slew of promises to film workers, the poor turnout at one of his meetings, and his remarks at a few street-corner interactions have drawn criticism from different sections.

Some leaders felt these incidents had given the opposition parties enough ammunition to target the Congress. A few complaints have already been lodged with the Chief Electoral Officer against the Chief Minister.

The meeting is also understood to have discussed internal differences over the ‘understanding’ with the AIMIM. Party leaders were urged to close ranks and campaign more aggressively in the remaining days.