Hyderabad:
Three senior leaders of the Congress jumped to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) bandwagon this week and the Congress made no effort to stop them; instead it labelled the desertions as "good riddance". Experts say that is not because the party is feeling supremely confident in Telangana but is feeling helpless, given the credibility crisis it is facing in the region.
Former Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and ex-MP K Keshav Rao, and two sitting MPs, G Vivek and Manda Jagannatham, were formally welcomed on Sunday into the TRS by its president K Chandrasekhar Rao, with the trademark pink scarf of the party.
Not just the Nizam College grounds where the celebratory event took place, but many areas in Hyderabad also sported the colour pink, with posters of the former Congress leaders sharing space with TRS leaders.
But the Congress doesn't appear to be too worried; rather, it seems helpless in the prevailing circumstances. A reason why it didn't seem to be making any effort to stop the MPs from leaving the Congress. The official reaction of the party was dismissive and disdainful.
Congress spokesperson Ghulam Nabi Azad said the leaders have struck deals with the TRS for parliamentary seats for themselves and MLA seats for their children and relatives. "This is just like a business, like a trade. So it is a good riddance."
The harsh words certainly pinched the Congress leaders, in exit mode, but weren't without a ring of truth. "Ghulam Nabi Azad said they have gone for seat to win. That means Azad agrees that people want Telangana and still they don't want to give Telangana?" Mr Rao, a former Congress MP said.
TRS leader KT Rama Rao said it was a shame that the Congress was accusing the leaders of being opportunistic. "It is a shame that the Congress can't honour its own party colleagues, can't keep its flock together and is blaming others for it."
G Vivek, a former Congress MP, who has just moved to the TRS says the latter is the political face of Telangana and the reason why they made the switch. He also expects more leaders, and not just from the Congress, to move to the TRS.
Congress MP Rajaiah, for example, was said to be in talks with the TRS to switch but stayed back reportedly because his political opponent and TDP strongman from the same district, Kadiam Srihari, has been promised the Warangal Lok Sabha seat.
Mr Rajaiah admits that Congress leaders in Telangana are on a weak wicket. "People are not even ready to listen to the Congress party. That is the situation. If Congress stamp is there, they are just rejecting," he said.
Unfortunately for the Congress, there are reports of a significant number of MPs and MLAs who are reportedly ready to switch to the TRS in Telangana and Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress in the coastal belt if they get an assurance that they would be allowed to contest.
Mr Azad has said a decision on the Telangana issue will be taken this month. But that is not being taken seriously either because the Congress has repeatedly made promises on Telangana but failed to fulfill them. In 2004, Congress had an electoral pact with the TRS and promised a separate state of Telangana. In 2009, party chief Sonia Gandhi again made a pre-election promise. In the same year, the Congress went back on the famous December 9 statement of then Home Minister P Chidambaram promising a separate state. The repeated flip-flops have deeply dented the credibility of the party in Telangana.