Decimated by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (then Telangana Rashtra Samithi) in the 2018 Assembly elections, and subsequently weakened by defections and the Bharatiya Janata Party's growing presence, the Congress in Telangana – over the last five years or more – was slowly being pushed to third place, losing its principal opposition status in the nine-year-old state.
But taking a leaf out of its Karnataka playbook, the party dangled six guarantees before the voters at its massive 'Vijayabheri' rally in Hyderabad last week – focusing its efforts on women, farmers, youth, and senior citizens.
The mammoth crowd gathered at the rally notwithstanding, the Congress appeared to be in a position of strength – something the party hasn't been able to showcase for a while now.
Moreover, with scores of BRS leaders – from former MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy to senior leader Tummala Nageswara Rao – joining the Congress over the last few months, the grand old party appears poised to give a tough fight to the ruling party led by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Mood surveys, like the People Pulse report released in July, however, suggest that while there is an undeniable anti-incumbency in Telangana, the Congress is not in a position to upseat the BRS in the state Assembly.