As the campaign in the Jubilee Hills by-election has begun picking up, the Congress seems to be lagging behind in the campaign, compared to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Congress high command announced as many as 40 star-campaigners, including chief minister A Revanth Reddy, deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and several senior ministers.
But so far, no senior leader has plunged into action to campaign for the party candidate Naveen Yadav, who is banking his followers and of course, some Muslim leaders like former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin and government advisor Mohammad Shabbir Ali.
Apparently realising that the Congress is trailing in the campaign, Revanth Reddy himself has decided to take personal charge of the campaign. He held a crucial meeting with senior Congress leaders to review strategies.
Determined to avoid any missteps, he has assigned specific divisions to individual ministers, ensuring that every household is reached during the campaign. Each division will have two ministers overseeing voter outreach.
In addition, several corporation chairpersons have been roped in for door-to-door canvassing. Revanth himself is expected to lead multiple roadshows to energize the cadre starting next week.
He told the ministers that their performance in the Jubilee Hills campaign will influence their future political standing within the cabinet — a move that has raised pressure on several leaders.