The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Severe drubbing shocks TRS camp

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 17, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Severe drubbing shocks TRS camp

N. Rahul

— PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL

Crestfallen: TRS party president K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Vijayashanti leaving after addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on Saturday.

HYDERABAD: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) camp was shell shocked by the severe drubbing the party received at the hands of voters, winning just ten Assembly and two Parliamentary seats. It contested forty five Assembly and nine Parliamentary constituencies.

With a strength of 26 MLAs, the party was originally the third largest grouping in the last Assembly.

The TRS had also won five Parliamentary seats in the last elections. However, ten MLAs distanced themselves from the party subsequently and, of the sixteen who resigned their membership of the Assembly and sought re-election, only seven were returned to the House last year.

The sombre mood of the leadership as the results poured in on Saturday was reflected when the party president K. Chandrasekhar Rao viewed them over TV along with other TRS candidates at the Telangana Bhavan. Sources said the leaders were glued to the TV with stoic silence and they were hesitant to speak their mind for fear that it might not be received well. Mr. Rao who viewed the results for well over eight hours broke the ice occasionally expressing his frustration.

He reportedly threw his arms up at the miserable performance of the party. He wondered whether it was not the right step to close down the ‘shop’ since the party failed to get favourable response from the voters whom it wanted to do good.

A small group of visitors walked into the hall to congratulate Mr. Rao when his result was declared after several uncertainties on way.

The other candidates who were confined to the premises since Friday as part of a camp organised by the party prepared to return home at the same time. The losers wore a dejected look as they left.

Putting up a brave front later, Mr. Rao told media personnel that the party suffered adverse results thought it expected them to go in its favour.

He attributed the poor performance of TRS to a major split in the anti-Congress vote on account of the presence of Praja Rajyam and Bharatiya Janata Party in the contest.

It was a tight triangular contest in which Praja Rajyam polled up to 30,000 votes in some of the constituencies.

‘Bond lacking’

Mr. Rao also said the Grand Alliance, of which TRS was a constituent, failed to land properly which was evident from the non-transfer of votes polled by Telugu Desam to the TRS in separate streams of voting.

The emotional bondage between parties was lacking on account of TDP candidates entering fray in six Assembly and two Parliament seats allotted to the TRS.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh