Congress eyeing 15 LS seats in Telangana; Venugopal arrives to finalize poll strategy

Hyderabad: Congress is working overtime to win 15 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the party has set the target of winning 15 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana.

On April 14, Venugopal arrived in Telangana evening and held a meeting with members of the Telangana Congress Committee, Telangana in-charge Deepa Das Munshi, and the 14 nominated members from the Congress party for Lok Sabha elections.

There are a total of 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana.

Three seats Hyderabad, Khammam, and Karimnagar are still pending.

K C Venugopal told the Congress members that the candidates for these seats will be announced today.

No illusions of an easy win

K C Venugopal, according to sources, asked the nominated members ‘not to have illusions that they will win easily’. He said, “You have to work hard. Some candidates have done surveys and found that they will win. But that’s not true. Go to the ground, interact with people, and be with them. Spread the Congress guarantees to the people.”

There were reports to the national Congress team. Daily reports from states are being taken by the national team. There are lapses in some constituencies, he pointed out where the leaders are not available to the people and also party workers.

Bring back Congress leaders

According to sources, K C Venugopal asked Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and the candidates to woo back the leaders who left the party during the Assembly elections in November 2023.

“They are originally Congress workers and due to some dispute, misunderstanding, or ego problems have left the party. The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee and all its office bearers must work towards bringing these leaders back to the fold of Congress. District-level joining of members is to be encouraged.”

BJP’s North India influence on decline

There is a decline in the influence of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in North India. There are also problems noted in Gujarat (Rajkot) where the Kshatriya caste is angry with the nominated Lok Sabha candidate union minister Parshottam Rupala. These will have repercussions on the equations in North and West India.

Sources said K C Venugopal told the members that union ministers and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are coming to South India because of the declining influence in north India. The target is to win seats in South India to make up for the losses in North India.

Congress has to double their efforts

In a strong message to the cadre and leaders, Venugopal asked them to work hard and ensure that there is a maximum number won. He also pointed out to Telangana in charge Deepa Munshi about negative feedback that he received from some candidates. According to sources, “He was unhappy that some are not going to their constituencies and working despite their candidature being announced.”

In a separate one-to-one meeting with each nominated candidate for Lok Sabha Venugopal stressed on the ground presence of leaders and workers in every constituency of Telangana.