The result in Telangana is a bolt from the blue for the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti, which had registered a spectacular victory in the Assembly elections a few months ago and was hoping to play a greater role in national politics.
The party supremo, K. Chandrashekahar Rao, decoupled the Assembly election from the Lok Sabha election, and in retrospect, that move seems sensible in view of the popular response now. Though there was no BJP wave in this new State, the party made very deep forays by winning four seats, that too in north Telangana, a TRS stronghold.
The Congress, which registered a poor performance in the Assembly election with many of its MLAs defecting to the TRS after that, made an impressive comeback with three seats. The game plan of the ruling party to emerge as a key player in national politics remains unfulfilled with the BJP securing a clear majority in the Lok Sabha. Most important, the TRS failed to sweep the election, though it did emerge as a major winner with nine seats.