TPCC President Uttam Kumar Reddy made a discreet visit to New Delhi on Monday and met Rahul Gandhi.

The objective of the visit was to impress upon Rahul Gandhi the need to officially declare him as the Chief Ministerial candidate in case the Mahakutami emerges victorious on December 11. Even Uttam’s closest aides were reportedly kept in the dark regarding this visit.

Uttam had rushed to Delhi in the wee hours of Monday and returned to city by noon.

Meanwhile, speculation is rife that TPCC Working President Revanth Reddy has also thrown his hat into the ring for the CM’s post saying that he had the blessings of Rahul Gandhi and AP CM Chandrababu Naidu.

Then of course, there are eternal hopefuls like Jana Reddy, DK Aruna, Komatireddy brothers etc. In fact, Komatireddy is expected to make a visit to Delhi as well saying that he has the perfect credentials for the top job as a five-time MLA.

New Delhi: Congress candidates on Tuesday took significant leads in BJP-ruled Rajasthan and was inching ahead of the BJP in both Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in Assembly elections held in five states.

Early trends from counting centres also showed that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) appeared set to retain power in Telangana while the ruling Congress was lagging behind the Mizo National Front (MNF) in Mizoram in state elections that were widely dubbed a “semi-final” ahead of the Lok Sabha battle next year.

In line with exit polls, the Congress appeared to be returning to power after a five-year gap in Rajasthan, the country’s largest state which has not re-elected a ruling party in recent times.

Congress candidates were ahead in 87 of the 199 constituencies, gaining around 60 seats, while the BJP was leading in 70 seats but heavily losing in over 50 constituencies.

And in a reversal of trends, the Congress overtook the BJP in both Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Both states the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has ruled for 15 years.

Congress nominees were ahead of others in 75 seats and the BJP in 60 in the battle for the 230-member Assembly. While the Congress made major gains across the state, the BJP was losing many seats it has held for long.

In Chhattisgarh, the Congress was ahead in 44 of the 90 seats, giving a fright to the BJP, whose Chief Minister Raman Singh was at one time trailing in the vote count from Rajnandgaon before he overtook his rivals later.

BJP candidates were ahead in 25 seats in Chhattisgarh.

In Mizoram, the ruling Congress was trailing to the MNF, whose candidates were ahead in 16 of the 40 seats. The Congress was ahead in five seats, losing as many as 10 seats.

The TRS was poised to retain power in Telangana with a huge majority, with its candidates leading in 80 of the 119 seats, leaving the Congress-led alliance way behind.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told the media that he was confident of a Congress victory in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and said he had “always been a little more pessimistic” about Telangana.

It has been quite some time one has heard about Congress party’s Rajya Sabha member K V P Ramachandra Rao. He has virtually gone silent these days without showing up anywhere.

Sources said KVP has been silently helping Telangana Rashtra Samithi in the present assembly elections, polling for which was held on Friday.

“He has been advising TRS president and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao regularly on poll strategies and poll management in the final days. He is one Congress leader who regularly visits KCR’s farm house at Erravelli,” a source said.

One wonders why a Congress leader, who is supposed to help his own party, is working against it and helping a strong political rival.

Apparently, KVP is not happy with the way the Congress party has joined hands with his bitter rival – Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, against whom he has been waging a relentless battle, particularly on Polavaram project.

Secondly, being a strong Velama leader, KVP is favouring KCR who also belongs to his own community.

Thirdly, a section of Telangana Reddys who were loyal to former chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, is also taking his help in supporting the TRS, as they, too, did not like Naidu’s interference in Telangana politics.

Apparently, KVP has taken up the responsibility of luring some Congress candidates and also strong independents, particularly from Reddy community, into the TRS, if the win the elections.

He reportedly contacted D Sudheer Reddy and Malreddy Ranga Reddy, who are likely to win the elections.

“After these elections, KVP is expected to shift his loyalty to YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh and take up the responsibility of security victory for Y S Jaganmohan Reddy,” sources said.