: Congress faces Telangana polls with its back to the wall #IndiaNEWS #National,Politics By Mohammed ShafeeqHyderabad, Feb 12 (IANS) With a few months to go for Assembly elections in Telangana, the

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Congress faces Telangana polls with its back to the wall #IndiaNEWS #National ,Politics
By Mohammed ShafeeqHyderabad, Feb 12 (IANS) With a few months to go for Assembly elections in Telangana, the Congress faces an acid test to remain relevant in the state politics as the BJP is making every effort to become the principal contestant to ruling BRS while in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh the chances of a revival of grand old partys fortunes remained bleak.
More than eight years after formation of Telangana as a separate state, the Congress party still appears clueless to regain the lost ground in its former stronghold.
Reeling under defections of several leaders and legislators during the last eight-and-a-half years and humiliating defeats in by-elections, the party looks to be in disarray. Infighting and lack of any charismatic figure have added to the woes of the grand old party.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi brought some enthusiasm to lift the spirit of demoralized cadre and the state Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy is trying to keep the momentum with ongoing padyatra as part of Hath Se Hath Jodo campaign, the party faces the acid test.
The Congress, which was hoping to reap the political benefit of carving out Telangana state in 2014, may find the going tough in the third consecutive election.
The party faces the biggest challenge to its survival as the BJP appears to have occupied the space of principal contestant for ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
In both 2014 and 2018, the Congress party was the main rival for BRS but this time the party may face the next polls even without this status.
Political observers say that in the narrative of BRS versus BJP built by the saffron party, Congress party may face the going tough.
It will be now or never for the Congress party in Telangana. To stay afloat in state politics, it will have to at least emerge as the second largest party in the Assembly, said political observer Palwai Raghavendra Reddy.
Wherever the Congress party lost the status of opposition, it never made a comeback. There are many examples like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, he said.
In 2014, the Congress won 22 seats in 119-member Telangana Assembly, while it was completely wiped out in Andhra Pradesh due to the public anger over bifurcation. In Telangana, several party leaders including legislators defected to TRS.
In 2018 Congress faced another disaster. It could win just 19 seats, though it had forged an electoral alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Left parties and some smaller parties.
Even before Congress could gear up for Lok Sabha elections in 2019, it had lost as many as 12 MLAs to the ruling party. Though the party salvaged some pride by winning three Lok Sabha seats, with the reduced strength in Assembly it lost the status of main opposition to All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), a friendly party of TRS.

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