Telangana Elections: Congress cadres hope for an overhaul

HYDERABAD: After its humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections, the party is perhaps headed towards a complete overhaul as both High Command and ground-level cadres seem inclined to replace the present leadership. 

The unexpected results have pushed the party into a deep shock, with many leaders still unable to fathom their extent of their loss. But this eerie silence will break soon as several second-rung leaders will aim their guns at TPCC top leaders who called all the shots till now. 

In fact, many of these top leaders did not even secure their seats this time. Expect TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy and campaign committee chief Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, heavyweights such as working presidents Ponnam Prabhakar, Revanth Reddy and manifesto committee chairman Damodar Rajanarasimha bit the dust on Tuesday. Even Jana Reddy, the CLP leader in the previous Assembly, lost his seat. The most painful fact for the cadres was that Congress had had a great day in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh.

Cadres are also miffed that even before the votes were counted, the leaders had started presenting themselves as Chief Minister candidates. 

“We are still unable to accept this defeat. Even seniors and powerful leaders lost. Anyhow, this is a blessing in disguise for Congress in Telangana. These leaders had become liabilities for the party and now is the perfect time to replace them and give new and fresh faces a chance,” said a second-rung leaders of TPCC.
For now, it seems the party’s biggest priority will be to revamp the unit before the Parliamentary elections. It cannot afford to repeat its performance again.