Congress sees opening in former Andhra, Telangana bastions

NEW DELHI: The Congress has concluded that the Telugu Desam Party government in Andhra Pradesh and the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti regime in Telangana are experiencing administrative meltdown, providing the party an opening for trying to regain its lost fiefdoms.

With this plan, Rahul Gandhi is travelling to Telangana on Thursday, where he will address a rally along with AICC general secretary in-charge Digvijaya Singh and state party leaders to highlight ‘failures’ of the TRS regime and its inability to obtain the special category status for the state despite being in good terms with the NDA regime at Centre. At the time of bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh, before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the UPA regime had promised special funds and special category status for both the states.

With a similar agenda, Gandhi and Singh will address a rally in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, where NDA constituent TDP is in power. The state government’s failure to get the Centre to deliver a special category status for Andhra will be highlighted during their campaign.

To add fire power to the Congress campaign, leaders of other Opposition parties such as Sharad Yadav (JDU), Sitaram Yechury (CPM), Akhilesh Yadav (SP), D Raja (CPI) are expected to join the rally to highlight the issue as well to showcase growing unity of many Opposition parties. These leaders will be in Tamil Nadu a day earlier to attend the birthday celebrations of DMK patriarch Karunanidhi. The Congress bid is to paint TDP, YSR Congress and TRS as direct or indirect allies of the NDA regime which is ‘delaying’ special status for Andhra and Telangana and, thereby, project itself as the only alternative before the Lok Sabha and assembly polls that will be held simultaneously in less than two years.