Cong govt will come to power in Telangana on Dec 12, says party strategist

The Telangana assembly poll results will be out on December 11. Next day, on December 12, a government led by the Congress party will assume charge in the southern state, claims Krishnan Sreenivasan, AICC secretary-in-charge of Telangana.

Speaking to Onmanorama over phone from Telangana amid the hectic parleys over seat-sharing, the bureaucrat-turned-politician was confidence personified. He said the Congress and its allies the Telugu Desam Party, the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) and the CPI were at the final stage of seat sharing talks. He said the number of seats each party is to contest will be announced in a few days.

He said the Congress has already finalised a few names. The Congress hopes to cash in on the TDP's influence in Hyderabad region and the TJS' vote base in northern Telangana.

Asked what makes the Congress so confident of winning the polls despite the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's (KCR) bold decision to go for an early polls, Sreenivasan said the people have lost faith in KCR and his party. “KCR's confidence is a thing of the past. Now, the people have lost faith in him. Who would want a party which stayed away from Secretariat for 500 days (due to some Vasthu issues) to come back to power,” Sreenivasan asked.

“Unlike the TRS, where KCR takes all calls on his own, the Congress here takes all the decisions in a democratic manner,” he said.

Asked about his party's strategies for the crucial polls, Sreenivasan said the organisational structure has been strengthened ahead of the polls. Panels from booth committees to those at the district level have been restructured,” he said.

“The massive support we find in our rallies is surprising. People's resentment against TRS is so evident from it. Moreover, leaders and activists are returning to the Congress on a daily basis,” he said.

Candidate selection

Asked about the choice of candidates, Sreenivasan said the party's state unit has been given a free hand to pick the candidates. “Not even a single candidate is being airdropped by the party national leadership. We have been told to take all the decisions after discussions at the DCC and PCC levels,” he said.

He said experience and popularity are the key criteria for picking candidates. Sreenivasan said the ruling TRS has been facing anti-incumbency at the state level and constituency level.

Campaign

The Congress is yet to hit the campaign trail whereas the TRS has already started hectic electioneering. Asked about this, Sreenivasan said a campaign spanning one month was enough for the Congress to canvass all potential support. “We lack the money power with which TRS conducts electioneering,” he admitted.

BJP factor

Sreenivasan wrote off BJP as a non-issue in Telangana, the youngest state in the country. “Their influence is restricted to certain pockets. However, we are aware of the fact that the BJP is colluding with the TRS in a bid to keep Congress away from coming to power. Such tactics won't work anyway,” he said.

Polls to the 119-member assembly will be held on December 7.

The Congress has already announced farm loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3,000 monthly dole to unemployed youth, among other assurances, if it comes to power.