Consider this! The TRS got a road-roller majority in the assembly elections held in December last. Within five months, it lost half of the seats to its rivals in the Lok Sabha elections. Why did this happen?
Over confidence? Belief that there is no alternative? Well it could be both. During the assembly elections, KCR conducted a whirlwind tour and helihopped from place to place. He had addressed over 100 public meetings and had covered almost the whole state. This paid rich dividends and the party won handsomely. When it came to Lok Sabha elections, KCR did not do much after announcing the candidates. He had addressed just 17 public meetings, which is grossly inadequate considering the high stakes in the election. He did not visit the Assembly constituency centres. Nor did he try to mobilise the workers like he did during the Lok Sabha elections.
More importantly, KCR did not try to iron out the internal bickering and leadership rivalry. In several constituencies, the ministers and the MLAs worked at cross-purposes and in many places, the official candidates could not take along the MLAs with them. All these have caused disastrous results for the TRS.
Over confidence? Belief that there is no alternative? Well it could be both. During the assembly elections, KCR conducted a whirlwind tour and helihopped from place to place. He had addressed over 100 public meetings and had covered almost the whole state. This paid rich dividends and the party won handsomely. When it came to Lok Sabha elections, KCR did not do much after announcing the candidates. He had addressed just 17 public meetings, which is grossly inadequate considering the high stakes in the election. He did not visit the Assembly constituency centres. Nor did he try to mobilise the workers like he did during the Lok Sabha elections.
More importantly, KCR did not try to iron out the internal bickering and leadership rivalry. In several constituencies, the ministers and the MLAs worked at cross-purposes and in many places, the official candidates could not take along the MLAs with them. All these have caused disastrous results for the TRS.