With the counting of votes slated to be held on Sunday, party sources said all Congress candidates were asked to reach Hyderabad and camp at a private hotel in the city.
Published Date – 08:34 PM, Sat – 2 December 23
Hyderabad: After multiple exit polls threw the political scene in Telangana into turmoil of uncertainty ahead of the counting of votes polled on November 30, hectic activity was witnessed behind the curtains on Saturday, especially in the Congress which has suddenly turned cautious. In fact, the party is making moves to ensure that its candidates, in case they win, are constantly under the watchful eyes of senior party leaders.
With the counting of votes slated to be held on Sunday, party sources said all Congress candidates were asked to reach Hyderabad and camp at a private hotel in the city. Senior AICC leaders, former union Minister P Chidambaram, Randeep Singh Surjewala and others either reached the city on Saturday or were on their way, with Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shiva Kumar, after being ‘tasked’ with the job of keeping the flock together, also reaching here.
Shiva Kumar, before heading to Hyderabad, alleged that the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) was trying to poach Congress candidates, and at the same time, said he was confident that none of the Congress candidates would switch loyalty.
The Congress, apparently buoyed by a few exit polls that predicted victory for it, is also summoning other leaders from Karnataka to Telangana, with AICC general secretary KC Venugopal asking Karnataka Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan to reach Hyderabad and convene a meeting with Telangana Congress leaders, besides tracking other developments.
Party sources said AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge had also issued specific instructions to leaders to be very cautious. There were also reports in a section of media that a few resorts were booked on the outskirts of Bengaluru to shift Congress candidates, in case of a fractured verdict.
This apart, a few senior leaders in Telangana Congress were learnt to have discussed the district-wise poll prospects at Gandhi Bhavan. TPCC Disciplinary Committee Chairman Chinna Reddy and former MP Mallu Ravi discussed the party prospects in erstwhile Mahabubnagar.
Earlier in the day, a delegation led by TPCC president A Revanth Reddy lodged a complaint with Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj alleging that the BRS was making efforts to divert Rs.6,000 crore meant for Rythu Bandhu disbursement to select contractors. The Congress has also leveled allegations of poll rigging in a few constituencies in the city.
BRS remains confident
Meanwhile, the ruling BRS remained confident of retaining power, with senior leader Dasoju Sravan stating on Saturday that the party would romp home with a comfortable margin.
Speaking to the media at Telangana Bhavan, he said the BRS would win more than 70 seats and that K Chandrashekhar Rao would become the hat-trick Chief Minister as desired by the people of the State.
Pointing out that that there always was a big difference between what exit polls said and the actual outcome, he said Chandrashekhar Rao remained well entrenched in the hearts of people and that it would be humanly impossible to unseat him.
Rubbishing the talk of a big victory for the Congress, he sounded a caution to the Congress leaders against nurturing big hopes on the results as the people were firm on handing out a yet another round of drubbing for the party.
BJP goes into silent mode
On the contrary to the discussions and activities in Telangana Bhavan and Gandhi Bhavan, the BJP State office remained quiet.
The saffron party, which had made tall claims about capturing power in Telangana, has been in silent mode after the November 30 polls. Though BJP leaders were claiming that the party would get 20 to 25 seats and play kingmaker, sources in the party stated that after watching the polling pattern in various constituencies, they were not sure of crossing single digits.
State BJP President G Kishan Reddy refused to speak to the media on the number of seats his party was expected to win. It is learnt that Kishan Reddy, during an internal meeting after the polls, reportedly told leaders that everyone knew what the outcome would be and so there was no need to worry about the results.
