Dubbak by-election a lesson for ruling TRS, says Congress

Khammam (Telangana) [India], November 11 (ANI): Asserting that people voted for the BJP in the just-concluded Dubbak by-election to teach the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) a lesson, senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao on Wednesday said that this should be an eye-opener for the ruling party and the chief minister.
Also admitting that it was a mistake to recommend the ticket to Cheruku Srinivas Reddy, who recently joined the Congress after quitting the TRS, Rao said that he was made the Congress candidate to teach the TRS a lesson.
"In the recent Dubbak by-election, the Congress party stood third despite trying our best. Our candidate Cheruku Srinivas Reddy who joined the Congress from Telangana Rashtra Samithi was a bit of a drawback. He was made to stand because we wanted to teach the TRS a lesson. But the BJP tried to misguide the people by saying that if Srinivas Reddy wins the elections, then he would join the TRS back. Recommending the ticket to Cheruku Srinivas Reddy was a mistake," the Congress leader said.
Rao added that people voting for the BJP should be an "eye-opener" for the TRS and Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao that people were slowly turning against their party.
"People voted for the BJP just to teach the TRS a lesson. This is an eye-opener for the TRS and the CM. People are slowly turning against you (TRS) and it is even more shocking that the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, who always supports the TRS, has not shown any support in the Dubbak by-elections," he said.
He concluded that the parties should think twice before distributing tickets.
"Even the Congress party must think before giving out tickets. The ticket must only be given to a person who is loyal to the party and will work for people at all times, and not to someone who comes from other parties. We have faced a bitter situation in the past as well," he added, targeting Reddy.
He rued earlier the Other Backward Classes were a vote bank for the Congress. "But now we have noticed that they are turning towards other parties. This is a serious issue and we have to discuss the same to prevent mistakes in the future. We will hold a meeting before the upcoming GHMC elections to discuss the current situation of the party."
In Dubbak, BJP's M Raghunandan Rao defeated the TRS' Solipeta Sujatha by 1,470 votes. The BJP secured 62,772 votes, TRS 61,302 votes and the Congress bagged 21,819 votes. (ANI)