Shocking By-Election Results
The by-elections to 18 Andhra Pradesh State Assembly seats (MLA Seats) and 4 Loksabha seats (MP Seats)have given a shocking thumbs down to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). The by-elections are conducted after 16 TRS MLA's and 4 MP's resigned to put pressure on the Government for a separate Telangana State to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh. At two other places elections were held as the sitting MLA's died. One of them is Khairatabad in Hyderabad where I voted.
TRS could retain only 7 Assembly Seats and 2 Loksabha Seats while the Congress Party won 6 Assembly Seats and 1 Loksabha Seat while the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which supports a united Andhra Pradesh won in as many as 5 Assembly Seats and 1 Loksabha Seat.
TRS was pushed to a corner on Telangana issue as Congress Party was not implementing what it promised in the earlier elections. Congress came to power taking help of TRS in the Telangana region thus indirectly supporting separate Telangana. As the Congress party strengthened, it started to distance itself from TRS forcing the TRS to pull out of the Government and eventually resigning to put pressure. TRS was almost synonymous with the Telangana issue. With this shocking defeat, opponents of Telangana State started asking whether the demand is valid as people are not supporting it.
Because of TRS, the separate Telangana State issue came out of the dust and forced all the political parties to take stand on the issue - either for or against the separate state. This is something good which came out of TRS. The main problem with TRS is their loose tongued leaders. From the party president down to all the levels of the party cadre are loose tongued, use filthy words and are known drunkards. Except for a couple of leaders like Harish Rao, others dont stand good in public scrutiny. This has given a very bad image of Telangana itself and people outside Telangana started thinking whether this is the culture of Telangana - using filthy words and drinking.
People from Telangana itself have understood that they have been taken for a ride by TRS and thus started opting for such parties like TDP, which are known well about their policy for a United Andhra Pradesh (Samaikya Andhra Pradesh). This has reflected in the dwindling vote share of TRS past couple of elections. I strongly believe TRS would be wiped out of the map in the general and state elections slated next year.
So, is separate Telangana State issue a closed chapter ?? I dont think so !! Even though people have opted for other parties, separate Telangana State is an issue which is something close to the hearts of people. TRS has to work hard to regain its lost glory. They have to come closer to all sections (Telanganas and Andhras who have settled in Telangana areas) of people and most importantly strive for the development of their constituencies. TRS has not got entire right on Telangana but TRS has the credit of taking the issue to the national stage. Atleast for that purpose, we need to credit TRS !!
Another factor that played in this elections is the role of new political party, Lok Satta. This was started by a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer. Lok Satta was initially started as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and then transformed into a political outfit whose aim is clean politics where there is no place for corruption, nepotism and all the other ills of politics. Their aims look great but is it possible in India where political parties are spending hundreds of Millions just for the sake of a single assembly seat ? Practically Impossible !!
I voted to them because of There Is No Alternative (TINA) factor. Iam a traditional Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter and since BJP didnt contest in Khairatabad, and since Iam a traditional anti-Congress supporter, I had no option but vote to Lok Satta.
Lok Satta played a destabilizing role in the Musheerabad Assembly constituency in Hyderabad where BJP candidate, Dr.Lakshman was pitted against a old Congress lady. BJP chances weakened as the Congress used money and muscle power as BJP stood no chance against their power. But Lakshman fought hard and was leading in many rounds of vote counting. What tilted the balance is the 5000 odd votes Lok Satta got denting traditional BJP vote bank - the educated !! End of the day, BJP lost the elections by a very low margin on 2000 odd votes.
This comes back to the point "Is there a necessity for so many political parties?". In a democracy like ours, such questions are not answered nor asked!!
TRS could retain only 7 Assembly Seats and 2 Loksabha Seats while the Congress Party won 6 Assembly Seats and 1 Loksabha Seat while the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which supports a united Andhra Pradesh won in as many as 5 Assembly Seats and 1 Loksabha Seat.
TRS was pushed to a corner on Telangana issue as Congress Party was not implementing what it promised in the earlier elections. Congress came to power taking help of TRS in the Telangana region thus indirectly supporting separate Telangana. As the Congress party strengthened, it started to distance itself from TRS forcing the TRS to pull out of the Government and eventually resigning to put pressure. TRS was almost synonymous with the Telangana issue. With this shocking defeat, opponents of Telangana State started asking whether the demand is valid as people are not supporting it.
Because of TRS, the separate Telangana State issue came out of the dust and forced all the political parties to take stand on the issue - either for or against the separate state. This is something good which came out of TRS. The main problem with TRS is their loose tongued leaders. From the party president down to all the levels of the party cadre are loose tongued, use filthy words and are known drunkards. Except for a couple of leaders like Harish Rao, others dont stand good in public scrutiny. This has given a very bad image of Telangana itself and people outside Telangana started thinking whether this is the culture of Telangana - using filthy words and drinking.
People from Telangana itself have understood that they have been taken for a ride by TRS and thus started opting for such parties like TDP, which are known well about their policy for a United Andhra Pradesh (Samaikya Andhra Pradesh). This has reflected in the dwindling vote share of TRS past couple of elections. I strongly believe TRS would be wiped out of the map in the general and state elections slated next year.
So, is separate Telangana State issue a closed chapter ?? I dont think so !! Even though people have opted for other parties, separate Telangana State is an issue which is something close to the hearts of people. TRS has to work hard to regain its lost glory. They have to come closer to all sections (Telanganas and Andhras who have settled in Telangana areas) of people and most importantly strive for the development of their constituencies. TRS has not got entire right on Telangana but TRS has the credit of taking the issue to the national stage. Atleast for that purpose, we need to credit TRS !!
Another factor that played in this elections is the role of new political party, Lok Satta. This was started by a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer. Lok Satta was initially started as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and then transformed into a political outfit whose aim is clean politics where there is no place for corruption, nepotism and all the other ills of politics. Their aims look great but is it possible in India where political parties are spending hundreds of Millions just for the sake of a single assembly seat ? Practically Impossible !!
I voted to them because of There Is No Alternative (TINA) factor. Iam a traditional Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter and since BJP didnt contest in Khairatabad, and since Iam a traditional anti-Congress supporter, I had no option but vote to Lok Satta.
Lok Satta played a destabilizing role in the Musheerabad Assembly constituency in Hyderabad where BJP candidate, Dr.Lakshman was pitted against a old Congress lady. BJP chances weakened as the Congress used money and muscle power as BJP stood no chance against their power. But Lakshman fought hard and was leading in many rounds of vote counting. What tilted the balance is the 5000 odd votes Lok Satta got denting traditional BJP vote bank - the educated !! End of the day, BJP lost the elections by a very low margin on 2000 odd votes.
This comes back to the point "Is there a necessity for so many political parties?". In a democracy like ours, such questions are not answered nor asked!!
Labels: Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, By-Elections, Hyderabad, Khairatabad, Lok Satta, Musheerabad, TDP, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Telugu Desam Party, TRS
posted by Madhav Prathapa at 10:38 am
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