The Congress party has taken out its final weapon to appease the electorate in the Seemandhra region. And the weapon was successfully used by former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy during the 2009 assembly elections.
The weapon is: Telangana statehood issue. During the 2009 elections, YSR suddenly changed his stand during the second phase of polling and told the electorate in Rayalaseema that if the Congress was not voted to power in the state again, then the people of Seemandhra might have to take visa to enter Telangana region, particularly Hyderabad. In a way, he blackmailed the people of Seemandhra on the bifurcation of the state.
The same weapon is now being used by the Congress leaders in Seemandhra as a last ditch effort to win a few seats in the region. Congress MP from Vijayawada Lagadapati Rajagopal has been campaigning in the coastal Andhra that if the people voted for the Congress, he would ensure that the government adopts a resolution in the assembly stating that the state would remain united and there is no question of agreeing for Telangana. In a way, he is threatening that if the Congress does not get good number of seats in the by-elections, there is going to be a certain division of the state.
Let us see how far this weapons will be of any use to the Congress party.
