Jagan Effect? TRS gets seats back,Cong routed

Chief Minister K Rosaiah said his party would respect the verdict of the people. The by-elections had to be held because sitting MLAs had quit their posts in support of a separate Telangana.

The results came as a shot in the arm for the TRS which is spearheading the Telangana movement — 14 months ago,it had been routed in the Telangana region,winning only 10 of the 45 it contested in alliance with the TDP.

TRS leader T Harish Rao,nephew of TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao,set a record,retaining Siddipet in Medak with a victory margin of 95,858 votes. He polled 1,08,770 votes. He broke the 68,681-votes victory margin record of the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy who was re-elected from Pulivendula in Kadapa in May 2009. The Congress and TDP candidates in Siddipet lost their deposits.

The by-elections were held in Siddipet,Sircilla,Vemulavada,Huzurabad,Chennur,Sirpur,Macherial,Korutla,Warangal (West),Yellaredy,Dharmapuri,Nizamabad (Urban).

The TRS,besides retaining its 10 seats,wrested Vemulavada from the TDP. Defying his party,TDP MLA C Ramesh resigned in favour of a separate Telangana and was expelled. He contested on a TRS ticket this time and won. KCR’s son K T Rama Rao won from Sirculla.

The Congress rout prompted the pro-Telangana section of the party to call it a “referendum” on the demand for statehood. While the Congress has so far refrained from giving its views on Telangana to the B N Srikrishna Committee examining the issue,the bypoll results may force the party to revisit its strategy.

With Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy set to intensify his attack on Rosaiah for the party’s dismal show in Telangana,the Congress high command has a complicated task on hand: how to rein in the CM-aspirant and spell out its stand on Telangana. The leadership has been far from decisive on both counts so far.

Union Law Minister and AICC in-charge of Andhra Pradesh M Veerappa Moily claimed there was no link between the by-election results and the demand for Telangana. He said those who had voluntarily resigned were re-elected and there was nothing more to it. “Our people put up a good fight and worked very hard. We congratulate the victors,” Moily told The Indian Express.

But Nizamabad Congress MP Madhu Goud Yaskhi called the results a referendum on Telangana. “It is very disappointing that the Congress got the lowest vote percentage in history. But this is a referendum on Telangana and people have spoken. The December 9 statement (by Home Minister P Chidambaram) had earned great goodwill for the Congress in Telangana… it is our responsibility to rebuild the party and regain people’s confidence. I urge the party to take serious note of public sentiments,” Yaskhi said.