The dates have been announced for the much-hyped Huzurabad Assembly constituency by-election.
The Election Commission of India has announced that the the by-election will be held on October 30.
The important dates are as follows:
1. The election notification will be issued on October 1
2. The last date for filing of the nominations is October 8
3. The scrutiny of the nominations will be done on October 11
4. The last date for the withdrawal of the nomination papers is October 13
5. The election will be held on October 30
6. The result of the election will be declared on November 2
The by-elections were necessitated due to the resignation of former minister Etela Rajender on June 4. Etela had resigned following his expulsion from the cabinet by the CM K Chandrashekar Rao. Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy accepted the resignation on June 12, and the suspense over the date of the by-election has been continuing ever since the acceptance of the resignation.
The ruling TRS and the primary opposition party the BJP have been carrying out a blitzkrieg campaign in Huzurabad for the last three months. The TRS has announced party leader Gellu Srinivas Yadav as its candidate. The BJP's candidate, of course, is Etela Rajender. The opposition Congress has not declared its candidate so far.
Meanwhile, the EC has imposed restrictions on the campaigning. It has asked those carrying out the campaign to wear face masks for preventing the spread of Covid-19. It also said that it was allowing only five members including the contesting candidate to carry out door-to-door campaigning, and has also imposed a ban on road shows during the campaigning. Indoor meetings can be held with only 200 people. And all campaigning needs to be stopped 72 hours before the election.
The TRS is quite strong in the Huzurabad Assembly constituency. It also announced the candidature of Srinivas Yadav months before the election, reportedly as part of a strategy to woo the BC voters. It also welcomed Congress leader Padi Kaushik Reddy into its fold, and appointed a leader from the Huzurabad constituency as the chairman of the SC corporation.
Most importantly, though, the TRS government launched the revolutionary Dalit Bandhu scheme in Huzurabad, and it is expected to help the party in the election.