The shoulders are drooping, the body language dull. Spot any leaders of the Congress from the Seemandhra region together and you cannot miss the funereal air. J C Diwakar Reddy, senior Congress leader from Anantapur district in Rayalaseema region tells you why. "The party is dead,'' he says.
Predicting a Tamil Nadu-like situation for the Congress in the residuary Andhra Pradesh state, should Telangana be created, Reddy says, "Congress will be in single digits in the Seemandhra assembly. The deal with Jaganmohan Reddy in Seemandhra is the worst thing the Congress has done. It will never be able to come up again there.''
Diwakar Reddy, who has never lost an election in his political career, admits his voters have told him not to come canvassing if he plans to be a Congress candidate. "Only if I stand as an independent candidate, I will win,'' he says.
Reddy, a former state minister along with other leaders from Kurnool and Anantapur districts has been lobbying for the creation of Rayala Telangana state by merging the two districts with Telangana. The argument is that this will prevent water wars between Telangana and Rayalaseema and prevent the two districts from turning dry. "Yes, we want Rayala Telangana state but they are simply not listening,'' he rues.
The 'We' versus 'Them' is part of the narrative in any conversation with a Seemandhra Congress leader. The 'Them' is no longer a Telugu Desam politician. It is the Delhi Durbar, which has, for all practical purposes, junked the Seemandhra lobby.
Social Welfare minister Pithani Satyanarayana is another one who admits there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Like Reddy, he says the time has come to decide whether to stick on in the Congress and risk certain electoral defeat or exit the party and take a chance.
Many of Seemandhra leaders were pushing chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy to float a new party but the CM has decided the political waters are too choppy to risk a new sail.
But it is not as if most Congress leaders will stare at defeat only because of the party's decision to divide Andhra Pradesh. Given the quality of governance, severe anti-incumbency would have cost them their seats in the assembly as well.
Things are totally different on the other side of the regional divide. Here just about every Telangana leader is fancying his or her chances of becoming the first CM of Telangana state in the new year. From Union ministers Jaipal Reddy and Sarve Satyanarayana to deputy CM Damodar Rajanarasimha and former PCC chief D Srinivas, there are at least one dozen candidates in the fray.
Given that the party granted Telangana, the Congress leaders are sure of registering a victory, irrespective of their performance in the last five to ten years. The Telangana sentiment will see them through, they say.
But the Congress party's hopes of sweeping Telangana state in the 2014 elections could come to nought if the Telangana Rashtra Samiti does not play ball. Its leader K Chandrasekhar Rao wants to fight the election on his own and a division of votes will work against both parties.
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