Hyderabad, July 31: The demand for a separate Telangana State was amply vindicated by the electorate of the 12 Assembly Constituencies of the region by re-electing in the by-elections all the 12 candidates who had resigned their seats for the cause.
In what is considered as a mini referendum on the issue of separate statehood for Telangana, the results of the by-elections has sent a clear message to the UPA Government at the Centre and especially to the Congress High Command that bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh was inevitable and the talk of development of the region in a unified state will not hold water any more.
As a matter of fact the electorate have amply expressed their lack of confidence in the ruling Congress and the Telugu Desam which have been proclaiming and promising the creation of a Telangana State. On the other hand the poll outcome also brought to fore the immense faith and hope the electorate have in the TRS and BJP for fulfilling their cherished dream of a separate state of Telangana by ensuring the victory of all the 11 TRS and one BJP candidate.
Both the ruling Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam, which contested all the 12 seats, came a cropper and hit the dust in a humiliating fashion as many of their contestants even could not save their deposits. Their credibility among the people of the region has eroded. However despite its severe drubbing in the by-elections, the Congress is putting up a brave front and taking solace that it had lost nothing since the seats were earlier held by the TRS (10), BJP and TDP one each. As a matter of fact the tally of the TDP has come down by one seat in the Assembly as its member who had resigned the seat and switched over to the TRS has helped it gain one seat.
——-Agencies