Time has come for Telangana Congress leaders to introspect regarding what they have done or doing is right or wrong?

The bypolls clearly indicate their fool-hardly acts, which led party to face humiliation in the region. Had they succeeded in impressing upon the party leadership against contesting bypolls the party could save such a humiliation (defeats in all 12 constituencies for which bypolls were held)? They could have kept their stakes ‘alive and kicking’ as far accomplishing separate statehood. The bypolls to 12 assembly constituencies in the region necessitated following the resignations of 10 Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and one each from Telugu Desam and Bharateeya Janata Party (BJP), protesting against the Centre’s delaying tactics in carving out separate statehood for Telangana.

Instead, the leadership from the region were not only divided, but also a section of them buckled to the pressures of party high command to enter the fray which was fought more or less on ‘sympathy’ and ‘sentiment’ in favor of separate Telangana. That the region’s leadership not only failed, but also was greedy was evident from none other than the PCC Chief D Srinivas himself entering the electoral fray from his native Nizamabad Urban assembly constituency. In fact, he had lost from the constituency not so long ago to his BJP opponent.

After the month-long violence following the TRS Chief’s fast-on-to-death agitation and consequent Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s midnight statement assuring to direct the state to begin the process for separate statehood by introducing a resolution in the state assembly, led to wide-spread protests elsewhere in other two regions of the state – Rayalaseema and Andhra. As a result, the Union Home Minister had to issue the second statement within few days, which led to wide spread unrest in Telangana protesting against it. Thus, not only the two major parties the ruling Congress and main Opposition Telugu Desam not only virtually split on region-basis, but also led to new polarization of parties on the issue. If the CPM and Prajarajyam of actor-turned Prajarajyam, taken the stand for ‘integrated state,’ then the CPI joined with the breakaway groups of both the Congress and Telugu Desam, besides BJP on regional basis and spearheaded their agitations for-and-against. As a result, the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre had to announce constitution of Justice BN Srikrishna Commission to study the bifurcation factor.

Though the TRS resisted initially and taken the unilateral decision asking their legislators to resign en masse, the TDP and Cong refused to follow arguing ‘resignations no way help redress the crux issue of separate statehood.’

And, the resignations of TRS and BJP members forced bypolls and elections were conducted subsequently resulting in the verdict coming in their favor.

Perhaps, the Congress leadership in New Delhi, which sensed the mood of people in Telangana, put their leaders of the region on ‘test’ by entrusting the responsibility to ensure party nominees victory. This was in the wake of their stiff opposition day-in and day-out against the Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who established himself as a mass leader and true political heir of his late father and former chief minister Dr Y Rajasekhara Reddy’s legacy. Those who opposed to Dr Reddy, during his living days, tried to take advance of the prevailing political situation in the state after his untimely death in a chopper crash in last September and started spreading bad propaganda against the Kadapa MP. They have not only succeeded in stalling Jaganmohan Reddy taking over the party reins in the state in spite of more than 100 legislators expressing their support to him in a signature campaign purportedly carried out soon after YSR death, but also put spokes to call of his second-leg “Odarpu Yatra” in Telangana districts.

They meticulously hatched the conspiracy joining hands with some Opposition leaders to create lawless in Warangal from where the young MP was about to kick start his Odarpu Yatra more than a month ago. Violence broke out when some handpicked hooligans threw stones at Mahabubabad railway station forcing police to open fire to disperse them. This was when the train in which Jagan was traveling was about to reach the said railway station.

Some of the senior Congress leaders like K Keshava Rao, Madhu Yaski (both MPs) Palvai Goverdhan Reddy and Dr P Shankar Rao made it a habit to criticize Jagan’s every act on day-to-day basis in their effort to isolate him from the party in the state and as well push him in the bad books of the party chief Sonia Gandhi. As a result, the party leadership too took some harsh decisions on the name of ‘indiscipline’ and also denied ‘permission’ to his Odarpu Yatra’ though he claimed it was purely a personal and nothing to do with politics.

Thus far, these so called seniors in the party belonging to region might have prevented the party high command entrusting some responsibility to Jagan in the bypolls, but got trapped when that responsibility indeed fell on their shoulders.

While the Jagan’s Odarpu Yatra elsewhere in the state drawing huge crowds, these leaders campaign in the region witnessed few supporters and that reflected in the polls outcome.

In that backdrop, will the party leadership continue to believe these leaders or change their opinion about Jagan, whose recent concluding meeting of 19-day Odarpu Yatra at Kakinada in East Godavari proved a grand success?

Political analysts feel, Sonia Gandhi, who is away on a person trip to US along with her son Rahul Gandhi, to visit her 80-year-old ailing mother, on her return will take the right decision to entrust major responsibility to the young Kadapa MP, who by all means, attained the most “Mass leader” status in Andhra politics, after his father. They feel better sense will prevail on Sonia to realize the fact that Jagan can be ‘best’ ‘mascot’ to party to win 2014 elections. What sort of responsibility, she will entrust is the million dollar question. Yet, many analysts don’t rule of Jagan succeeding D Srinivas as next PCC Chief!