Hyderabad: The Congress would form government in Telangana without external support, party leaders Ponnala Lakshmaiah and Damodar Raja Narasimha said on Wednesday.
Mr Lakshmaiah did not give out an estimate, but Mr Narasimha claimed 65 seats. Off the record, the bravado was missing. Many leaders, speaking after assessing polling trends, felt that the Congress may win 35-40 seats.One Congress leader put the figure at 30, and gave the TRS 55 seats.
In preliminary assessments, party leaders gave themselves two of 12 seats in Warangal, and leads in three others. It could win the Mahbubabad Lok Sabha seat. Of Karimnagar’s 13 seats, leaders gave themselves four and leads in two. Of Nizamabad’s nine seats, the Congress would win Nizamabad Urban and was in with a chance in three.
Of Ranga Reddy district’s 14 seats, the Congress would win four and was ahead in one. Party leaders were still analysing inputs from the other districts.
Leaders said that in many seats, the YSRC could play spoiler by splitting votes, even 4,000-5,000 seats would make a difference. These leaders had earlier dismissed the YSRC, but were surprised by the response to Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Ms Y.S. Sharmila.
