The results of the bypolls to the seven Assembly segments in the state on Wednesday proved that pro-Telangana sentiments were still high among the electorate. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti comfortably won in five of the six segments in Telangana while the BJP — also pro-Telangana — was a surprise winner in the sixth.

At Kovur, YSR Congress candidate and former Telugu Desam MLA N. Prasanna Kumar Reddy won by a huge margin of 23,000 votes much to the relief of party boss, beleaguered Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The results were, however, disappointing for the ruling Congress and the Telugu Desam. In the national scenario, however, the Congress had reasons to cheer. The party on Wednesday wrested a Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka, the Udupi Chikmagalur seat, and an Assembly seat in Mansa, Gujarat. Both had been BJP strongholds for 15 years.

Meanwhile in the state, the TRS won comfortably in Adilabad, Kamareddy, Station Ghanpur and Kollapur while the BJP registered a surprise win in a neck-to-neck race with the TRS in Mahabubnagar.

Mr Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who had resigned from the Telugu Desam and had sought re-election as an independent candidate under the banner of Telangana Nagara Samithi, won from Nagarkurnool.

For Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, the victory in Kovur was extremely important as the party could prove its strength outside Kadapa, the home turf of the YSR family. Party leaders on Wednesday exuded confidence that the results would have a positive impact on the by-polls to the 17 Assembly segments where the MLAs had supported Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy braving disqualification.

Wednesday’s results were worst for the ruling Congress and principal Opposition, the Telugu Desam as neither won a single seat. To make matters worse, the TD lost deposits in Kamareddy while the Congress candidate barely escaped facing a similar fate in Station Ghanpur.

Ironically, the TD, too, put up a brave front with party supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu stating that the party could now boldly campaign in the T-region. But, the ground reality was that the TD could secure
second position only in Station Ghanpur where its nominee, Mr K.

Srihari who is pro-Telangana, campaigned without a single photo of Mr Naidu. After the results, TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should at least now “realise the heart-beat of Telangana and take steps to introduce the Bill in the on-going budget
session itself.”

Meanwhile, delighted with the surprise win in Mahbubnagar, BJP national leader M. Venkaaiah Naidu appealed to the Telangana electorate that electing his party candidates in large numbers to the Lok Sabha in 2014 could alone make Telangana state a reality.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Pradesh Congress Committee chief Botsa Satyanarayana were directly blamed as senior Congress leaders, though stopping short of demanding their resignations, blamed the debacle on their inefficiency.

Accepting responsibility of the party’s poor showing, the two leaders, however, sought solace in the Congress coming second in four segments which, according to them, was an indication that the party’s base in the region was intact.

They vowed to vigorously build the party including effectively implementing various government welfare and development programmes.

“There is no effective publicity regarding government schemes. Power cuts and local political conditions etc. all led to the party's poor show," said Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy.

“This is all part of the game, we might lost one game but the ultimate match is important for us,” Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy commented in a media conference on Wednesday.

He said that there would be more coordination between the party and the government in the coming months and the Congress would improve its performance in the coming local body polls which would be held all over the state.

The CM also admitted to a lapse in the selection of candidate for the Mahabubnagar Assembly seat. Without mentioning Ms Vijayalaxmi, wife of deceased MLA Rajeswara Reddy, he said, “Had there been another candidate, the results would have been otherwise.”

“From my first day of assuming office I have been trying to bring about change, but everyone should understand that I do not have Alladdin’s magic lantern to bring change overnight, we have done better in this elections. The TD lost deposits at some places, but we did not,” the CM added.

Referring to the Telangana statehood problem, the CM said that it was for the Centre to take a decision and he hoped that it would be taken soon.

Meanwhile, addressing a separate media conference, Mr Satyanarayana also accepted responsibility for the party’s poor show. “We have bettered our previous performance in these polls; there is nothing to panic about but we will take corrective measures after a thorough review,” he said. He too admitted that there had been a mistake in the selection of candidate for the Mahabubnagar by-poll.