Congress is treading cautiously in terms of announcing the names of candidates for the remaining Parliament seats as it sees huge demand not only from within the party but also some strongmen from other parties.
The list is likely to come out on March 17 when results of the surveys taken up by party strategist Sunil Kanugolu’s team will throw up a picture of the strongest among the aspirants. Sources said Mr.Kanugolu’s team has taken up another round of surveys with new names as some ‘strong and influential’ men from other parties are also showing keen interest.
Mr.Kanugolu, who has gained a lot of respect within the party after his strategies worked out well in the Assembly elections, is said to have informed the party that the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) is losing badly in terms of vote share in Parliament elections but a majority of that vote may shift to the BJP improving its chances.
“The BRS may end up with around 20% vote share with the party cadre demoralised and leaders backing away from the contest. So BJP will gain a bit,” reads an excerpt of the report submitted to the party leadership. Many BRS senior leaders are looking at the Congress and their names are also being considered for tickets as the prime motive is to win maximum seats.
According to his inputs, Congress will comfortably win eight seats and has a high chance of winning two more depending on the candidates. BJP is likely to retain three of the four seats and has the chance of improving only in Chevella, Malkajgiri and Mahbubnagar. If D.K. Aruna is the BJP candidate, she can give a tough fight to Congress in Mahbubnagar. In Chevella, Secunderabad and Malkajgiri, it will be a straight contest between Congress and BJP.
Congress is strong in all the reserved seats — Nagarkurnool, Warangal, Pedapalli and Mahabubabad apart from Nalgonda, Bhongir, Zaheerabad and Khammam. Medak is the only seat where BRS looks strong but Congress is hoping for some big defections from the BRS to shake its confidence, according to Mr. Kanugolu’s inputs.
Adilabad, an ST reserved seat held by the BJP, is also being targeted by the Congress. Some big names in the district are likely to join the Congress soon. Former MLA Koneru Konappa is already in. In the BJP sitting seats of Nizamabad and Karimnagar too, the Congress plans to make inroads attracting strong BRS leaders. With sitting MLAs in Karimnagar district, it plans to improve vastly.
The party surveys show women are very positive about Congress with free travel in RTC buses. The impact of two more schemes — 200 units of free power and gas cylinder at ₹500 — will have its impact by next month when they start getting zero bills and saving money on cylinders. That will be a huge advantage for Congress when it goes to elections.
