Chorus grows louder in Cong for brainstorming on poor poll show

Hyderabad: Unhappy over Congress's poor show in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, the demand for ‘Medho Madhanam Sadassu’ (Chintan Baithak), similar to YSR's period, is growing within the party.

According to party sources, despite all the efforts to appear victorious in the Lok Sabha polls by the State leadership, in wake of the discontentment shown by the party high command over the results, the leaders now talk of the urgency to introspect before it is too late. Questions are being raised as to why the Congress which came to power in State has lost the opportunity to win maximum seats and lost the ground to BJP within months.

“There is growing disquiet amongst the seniors and if the problem is not diagnosed then the party will further lose ground in the upcoming polls, including in the local bodies. With BJP gaining vote share substantially in these polls compared to Assembly, it won’t keep quiet. Since the voters of local bodies are mostly from the farming community, the BJP’s attempts of outreach will definitely have an impact over their choices. Just by describing the result as Ugadi pachadi one cannot get away from responsibility,” observed a senior leader who had applied for the PCC chief’s position.

In the Lok Sabha polls in terms of vote share, the BJP is not far behind Congress. It has gained significantly within months, in contrast to Assembly elections. While Congress’ vote share remained almost the same with a slight increase from 39.4% to just over 40%, the BJP which had 13.9 % during the Assembly polls has got 34.9 %, which is more than 20% gain, within a few months. While BRS which was 37.3 % at the time of Assembly elections was cut to size this time and got only 16.7 %.

It is believed that as the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s term as PCC chief comes to an end this month, it is most likely that a new leader who can completely focus on organisational matters will don the mantle. However the leaders who also served as AICC members recalled how at national level reviews remain a binding factor for taking forward the party's winning strategies. “Meetings for introspection and strengthening of the organisation are held each time the party loses or wins at national level. Even in the unified AP during the YSR’s time, a State-level meeting was held in Hyderabad. This practice was followed by his successors, following carving out of Telangana. But for the past two to three years, nothing of that sort has been witnessed,” feels a former AICC member.