The TRS could retain only seven out of the 16 Assembly and two of the four Lok Sabha seats it had won in the previous elections. Besides winning one parliamentary seat each, the ruling Congress and the main opposition, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), wrested six and five Assembly seats, respectively. The BJP and the CPI (M), both of which contested one Assembly seat, drew a blank.
That the popularity of TRS President K Chandrasekhar Rao has tumbled is evident from the fact that he retained the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat by 15,560 votes as against the lead of over 200,000 votes over the second candidate he had secured in the 2006 by-election. In both by-elections, his main rival was Congress candidate T Jeevan Reddy.
Except the TRS, no other party wanted the by-elections, which were held less than a year before the 2009 general election. This happened following the resignation of TRS legislators and MPs over the party's demand for statehood for Telangana. Elections to two other Assembly constituencies, Khairatabad and Terlam, were necessitated due to the demise of the sitting members.
Rao today offered to step down as TRS president for his party's poor performance in the by-elections, which he had thrust upon an estimated 9.25 million voters to prove that "separate Telanagana sentiment" was widely prevalent among the people of the region. He also wanted "to teach a lesson to the Congress (which was an ally of the TRS in the 2004 general election) for betraying the Telangana cause.
On the other hand, to the surprise of analysts, the TDP emerged as a major gainer. Its tally of one Lok Sabha and five Assembly seats proves that its vote bank in the region has remained intact despite his party losing power in the previous election. The results have also come as a shot in the arm for Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
The verdict is expected to help him silence his critics, particularly senior party leaders from Telangana. These leaders had predicted that the TRS would sweep the polls and Reddy's "development slogan" would not stand before the "Telangana sentiment".
After the results were announced, state Congress Committee President D Srinivas said except the Khairatabad Assembly constituency, which had been represented by the party even earlier, all other seats were a gain to the Congress.
