Time after time: on TRS victory
In Telangana, the TRS banked on its regional appeal to keep the Congress out again
In continuing with its politics of regional identity, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi won a second term in office in India’s newest State, pushing(आगे बढ़ने वाला) the national party, the Congress, to a distant second. TRS leader K. Chandrasekhara Rao, sworn in again as Chief Minister, had made a calculated(गणना) gamble(दांव पर लगाना) by advancing the election, which was due along with the Lok Sabha election. The motive(उद्देश्य ) was clear: he did not want to fight the Assembly polls alongside the Lok Sabha election, in which the Congress would have been a strong contender(दावेदार) at the national level. The gamble paid off handsomely, and the TRS has added 25 seats to its 2014 tally(हिसाब लगाना/मेल खाना) of 63 with an increase of 12 percentage points in vote share. For the second time, the Congress failed to capitalise(मूल बनाना/पूंजी बनाना) on its role in carving out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, allowing the TRS a runaway victory. While it did not get any credit in Telangana for bringing(लाना) the State into being, it had to take all the blame (आरोप/निंदा) in Andhra Pradesh for the bifurcation(विभाजन), where it conceded(स्वीकार) space to its breakaway party, the YSR Congress Party. Mr. Rao is now firmly entrenched(आरोपित/फंस गया,) in government, and his son, K.T. Rama Rao, is a parallel(अनुरूप/समानांतर) power centre. In the last five years, far from being able to challenge the TRS politically, the Congress appears(रूप लेना) to have slipped in voter estimation(अनुमान).
Some of the Congress’s failures will have to be attributed(जिम्मेदार ठहराया) to the national leadership, which hurriedly(हड़बड़ी/शीघ्रता से) entered into an alliance(गठबंधन) with the Telugu Desam Party. Although the TDP does enjoy support in Hyderabad and surrounding(आसपास ) areas, it is seen in the rest of Telangana as essentially(अनिवार्य रूप से) a party of the neighbouring State of Andhra Pradesh. Congress president Rahul Gandhi may have been looking at the bigger picture when he welcomed the TDP as part of a broad Opposition(विपक्ष) alliance, but Telangana voters took a cynical(रूखा) view of the coming together of the two parties that were principal rivals just five years ago. Although the People’s Front of the Congress and the TDP drafted a common programme, and held a joint campaign(मुहिम/अभियान), this was not enough to challenge the TRS, which moved to poll mode several months in advance. The result could also have implications(उलझाव) for the Assembly election in Andhra Pradesh next year, as the TDP might be wary of being identified too closely with the Congress, which is still seen as having facilitated (आसान कर देना)the bifurcation. The TRS, which talks of maintaining equidistance between the Congress and the BJP, is more likely to back the BJP than the Congress in the post-election scenario. And given that the TDP, until a few months ago, was an ally of the BJP, any which way the Congress looks at it the twin States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh remain a difficult terrain(प्रदेश/इलाक़ा)
Important Vocabulary
1. Gamble(दांव पर लगाना)
Synonyms: bet, long shot, venture, wager, action
Antonyms: certainty, sureness, design, guar, insurance
2. Contender(दावेदार
Synonyms: adversary, challenger, competition, contestant, opponent
Antonyms: ally, associate, helper
3. Tally(हिसाब लगाना/मेल खाना)
Synonyms: poll, total, account, mark, reckoning
4. Conceded(स्वीकार)
Synonyms: accept, admit, allow, capitulate, cave in
5. Blame (आरोप/निंदा)
Synonyms: criticism, accusation, animadversion, arraignment, attack
Antonyms: acquittal, approval, commendation, compliment, endorsement
6. Attributed(जिम्मेदार ठहराया)
Synonyms: apply, associate, blame, connect, credit
Antonyms: disconnect
7. Cynical(रूखा)
Synonyms: contemptuous, derisive, ironic, misanthropic, misanthropical
Antonyms: believing, hopeful, optimistic, trusting, undoubting
8. Facilitated (आसान कर देना)
Synonyms: aid, ease, expedite, further, help
Antonyms: block, cease, check, delay, halt
9. Implications(उलझाव)
Synonyms: conclusion, connotation, indication, meaning, overtone
Antonyms: measurement, proof, reality, truth
10. Campaign(मुहिम/अभियान),
Synonyms: crusade, drive, fight, movement, offensive
Antonyms: inaction
11. Surrounding(आसपास )
Synonyms: neighboring, enclosing, encompassing, around, circumferential
