Hyderabad:
The writing on the wall has become clearer for the ruling Congress and principal opposition Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh: they are facing a serious survival threat and the demand for a separate Telangana state cannot be wished away.
Results of the by-elections to seven Assembly seats saw Congress and TDP, which refused to acknowledge the Telangana factor, drawing a blank today and clearly establishing that fortunes of these two major parties are on the wane, a warning signal ahead of another round of by-polls to 18 assembly constituencies in the next few months.
Also, the resounding success of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti at the cost of the Congress and the TDP reaffirms the importance of the Telangana movement.
Last but not the least, victory of YSR Congress candidate N Prasanna Kumar Reddy in Kovur in coastal Andhra region could be an indicator of things to come.
The YSRC is emerging a force to reckon with in the state politics, an ominous sign for both the Congress and the TDP. That the "Telangana sentiment" won in the six segments in the region need not be re-emphasised.The TRS (four), the BJP (one) and even the lone Independent candidate won on the Telangana plank.
It was a morale-boosting victory for the BJP in the single seat it contested in Mahbubnagar where it beat the TRS by a margin of 1897 votes, leaving the Congress and the TDP in third and fourth positions.
The BJP could win the voters' confidence by convincing them that it alone could deliver a separate state.
The BJP got the better of TRS despite the fact that the latter too was "championing" the cause of separate state. "We could convince people that Telangana state is possible only through BJP and hence they voted for us," party state president G Kishan Reddy noted.
On a personal front, it's a serious setback for TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao as he could not ensure victory of his party candidate in the Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha constituency he represents.
The government employees, who have been playing a key part in the statehood movement, appeared to have reposed their faith in the BJP rather than the TRS, thereby turning the tide against KCR.
The Mahbubnagar result could well mark the resurgence of BJP at least in the Telangana region in the state, a factor that may be detrimental to the TRS in future.
The saving grace for the ruling party was the second position it secured in four out of six segments in Telangana while the TDP was relegated to the third place in four seats.