Telangana State Congress chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday resigned from the post, taking moral responsibility for the party's defeat in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections. The party despite having a significant cadre strength in Hyderabad only managed to secure two seats in the ward elections.
In a statement to the media, Uttam said, "I have submitted my resignation from the post of President of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee. I have requested the All India Congress Committee to take up the process of selecting a new President of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee immediately.”
The Congress faced a severe drubbing with its candidates winning only two seats in the 150-member GHMC. The party had won two seats in the 2016 polls as well.
Uttam, who is also a member of Lok Sabha, said he had sent his resignation to the central leadership in the past but his resignation was not accepted. He has requested the All India Congress Committee once again to accept his resignation.
Unlike the BJP, which brought its national President and several Union Ministers for the campaign and grabbed headlines, the Congress campaign was a low-key affair. Uttam had led the party's campaign in the GHMC polls with attendance from the state party leaders in the campaigns.
The TPCC Working President A Revanth Reddy blamed the media for the poor performance of his party. Revanth said the media had created an artificial slugfest between the TRS and the BJP, thus sidelining the Congress. The media has taken a supari to kill Congress, he alleged. “The media has given coverage only to the parties which have given packages to them. It appears as if only parties which offered packages to the media were in the fray," Revanth alleged at a press conference. The leader claimed the Congress has performed better than in 2016 improving their vote share from 10.4 percent to 14 percent.
Adding to Congress' troubles, its leader and former MP Konda Vishweshwer Reddy, in his reaction to GHMC polls, stated that people are against the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and they feel that only the BJP can take on the TRS.
In the meantime, former Home Minister of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh K Jana Reddy is expected to switch over to the BJP on 7 December, reported The New Indian Express.
The GHMC poll results threw up a hung municipal body. The TRS emerged as the single largest party with 55 seats and BJP won 48 seats to be the second largest party. AIMIM bagged 43 seats.
(This story was first published in The News Minute and has been republished with permission)
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