Cong-led alliances comes a cropper in Telangana polls

The much touted tie-up between the Congress and Telugu Desam Party, which took on the TRS in the December 7 elections, came a cropper with the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister-led outfit winning a mere two seats.

The Congress, which won 21 seats in the previous elections in 2014, secured 19 this time.

The newly founded Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), which were also part of the 'Prajakutami' (Peoples Front), drew a blank, pushing the grouping to despair.

The Congress and TDP had set aside decades-old political rivalry to join hands to dislodge the Telangana Rashtra Samithi government.

The TDP had won 15 seats in 2014 in alliance with the BJP.

The Congress contested in 99 seats, TDP in 13, CPI in three and TJS in four seats officially in the election.

With poor performance of the alliance, questions are being asked as to whether the alliance partners have failed the "voter transfer" test.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu put their weight solidly behind the campaign and left no stone unturned to woo voters.

Both the leaders shared common dais at several meetings and addressed joint public meetings.

But it is clear that the alliance has flopped with the TRS juggernaut rolling on.

It is a setback for the Telangana unit of TDP which tried to regain its lost ground through the alliance.

It unsuccessfully fielded TDP founder N T Rama Raos grand-daughter Suhasini from Kukatpally constituency which is largely populated with Seemandhra "settlers."