The fight for Telangana was a fight for Hyderabad and its revenues, as simple as that! Self-respect and other such nonsense were mere emotional appendages to lure the masses into participating in the agitation.
While it was the Congress which eventually took the decision of dividing the State, the dividends were reaped by the TRS.
But, unlike the TRS which came to power by spewing venom on the Andhra people, Congress did not practice such politics of hatred. It merely tried to cash in on the unrest generated by KCR.
But today, its non-belligerent nature might well try to be its advantage in 2019 as Andhras settled in Hyderabad may vote overwhelmingly for a TDP-Congress rather than the TRS which is openly blocking any possible assistance to Andhra Pradesh on instructions from the Centre.
The TDP-BJP alliance in 2014 had won 14 of the 24 assembly constituencies in 2014 in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts. The TRS won three seats.
This time, a large number of Andhras are expected to get the tickets from the Congress whereas the TDP will anyway field Andhras. This alliance is largely expected to have the upper hand in cosmopolitan parts of Hyderabad that turned a deaf ear to KCR’s rhetoric. But, the biggest problem for the alliance is going to be ‘Operation Akarsh’.
What will they do if KCR again lures the winning MLAs to his camp?