he Seemandhra unit of the Congress is unlikely to recover from the drubbing it received in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in a state that comes into existence on 2 June. It lost in 153 of the 175 Assembly seats it contested in the Seemandhra elections and did not win any of the state's 17 Lok Sabha seats.

"They (voters) killed us like a venomous snake. However hard we tried to make them see reason, it was of no use," senior legislator and former minister Gade Venkata Reddy said.

Former Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana managed to finish second in the Assembly seat he contested from. All the other Assembly and LS contestants came in third, fourth, fifth or even tenth in some cases. Botsa's wife Jhansi, who contested from the Vizianagaram Lok Sabha seat, lost her deposit.

Union minister Kishore Chandra Deo lost the Araku (ST) Lok Sabha seat, M.M. Pallam Raju lost in Kakinada, Panabaka Lakshmi lost Bapatla and Killi Kripa Rani finished third in Srikakulam. All the Union ministers lost their deposits.

Several senior Congress leaders are reconciled to a contest between the Telugu Desam-BJP and the YSR Congress in the future. The leaders have almost given up on plans for a review meeting at the end of the month. N. Raghuveera Reddy, the Seemandhra unit president, faced angry outbursts from losing candidates, who blamed him and the high command for their defeat.

"90% our leaders and 70% of our cadre have left us. Whoever has stayed, will pull on for the time being. The party's rout at the Centre too has reduced the chances of the party's recovery," Venkata Reddy said. Raghuveera Reddy himself finished a poor third in the Penukonda Assembly seat.

One candidate spent about Rs 20 cr but still lost. "The high command has ruined our political life. I spent Rs 20 cr but secured only 1,800 votes," the candidate told The Sunday Guardian, requesting anonymity.

Congress leaders in Seemandhra are baffled at the scale of their defeat. "The party failed to bag even 5% of the seats in mandal parishads, 2% in zilla parishads and a zero in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The higher the level of the election, the harder we were hit by people," said Rudraraju Padma Raju, a Congress MLC.

Reports that Chiranjeevi is planning to either join the BJP or return to acting has unnerved the workers. "Sonia Gandhi trusted him to lead the party to a win, but he is playing safe and focusing on his 150th film," West Godavari Congress leader Vasiraju Ranga Raju said.