Defeated Congress candidate dubs Munugode election ‘mockery of democracy’

In the election, Congress candidate Sravanthi Reddy lost her security deposit and secured just 10.58% of votes.
 Defeated Congress candidate dubs Munugode election ‘mockery of democracy’
Defeated Congress candidate dubs Munugode election ‘mockery of democracy’

Despite losing the security deposit and coming a distant third in the Munugode bypoll, Congress candidate Palvai Sravanthi Reddy said that it was a “moral victory” for her as she could win more than 20,000 votes without influencing the voters through alcohol and bribes. In an interview with TNM, Sravanthi, who secured only 23,906 votes (10.58%) alleged that the playing field was “uneven” and the election was a farce and a mockery of democracy as both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) spent around Rs 500 crore. 

“Neither the election was on an even and fair ground nor was it held in a manner in which all  rules were followed. It stooped to an all time low. I was slandered on social media and my convoy and office were attacked. This was a new low which we have never seen in Telangana before,” she said.     

The bypoll was won by TRS candidate K Prabhakar Reddy who defeated BJP candidate Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, a sitting Congress MLA, who defected to the BJP and resigned from the post of the legislator necesitating the bypoll. Prabhakar Reddy secured a total of 96,589 votes won by a margin of 10,309 votes.     

Sravanthi said the Congress could not match the manpower of the TRS and the BJP, which led to the debacle of the party. “From the BJP we saw Union ministers to even local corporators, working on ground, taking responsibility and fighting out. Similarly, the TRS had deployed the Chief Minister, MLAs and party leaders. who were stationed in every village to bribe and coerce people,” she alleged. Sravanthi said the Congress was disadvantaged as it lacked official machinery which could be used to ‘bend’ things or settle scores.

The loss in Munugode is a major setback for the Congress as it’s an indicator of the dwindling support for the party in Nalgonda region, considered to be their bastion. In the 2018 general election, Uttam Kumar Reddy had won from Huzurngar constituency in Nalgonda. However, he vacated the seat after winning the Nalgonda parliamentary constituency. In the bypoll, the Congress could not retain the seat. The Nagarjuna Sagar seat was won by the TRS in the general election and the bypoll.

However, Sravanthi says Nalgonda district will remain a bastion of the Congress and that the bypoll result will not affect the general election to be held in 2023. “All the three elections (Nagarjuna Sagar, Huzurnagar and Munugode) were bypolls, which run on totally different dynamics compared to the general election. This is still a Congress bastion. We noticed an anti-incumbency factor in this election too. The impact of anti-incumbency will be greater during the general election,” the Congress candidate said   

The Congress looks extremely weak in the state despite the optics created by Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Telangana during the crucial bypoll considering the party’s dismal performance in the bypoll. Sravanthi however said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra should be looked at in isolation as it is not linked to electoral politics. She justified the party’s decision not to have Rahul Gandhi campaign in Munugode, as the purpose of the Yatra is to unite the social fabric of India. 

The Congress currently has only five MLAs in Telangana. 

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