As the date for the MLC elections in the graduates' constituencies of Hyderabad-Mahbubnagar-Rangareddy and Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda inches closer, the candidates of the TRS, the BJP, and the Congress are leaving no stone unturned to reach out to the voters and secure their votes.
Leaders of the three parties have been campaigning relentlessly. Candidates too have been attempting to woo the voters in the six districts, and have been meeting not only the state's government and private employees but also the unemployed youth. It seems like the elections will be fought on the issue of employment generation, this time. At least the
ongoing spat between the TRS' K T Rama Rao, who has been appointed to monitor the pink party's election campaign, and the leaders of the Opposition surely suggests so.
With each party putting its all into its campaign efforts, the battle for the seat is certainly going to be a closely-fought one.
While the TRS has fielded sitting MLC Palla Rajeshwar Reddy from the Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda MLC seat, it has fielded daughter of former Prime Minister late P V Narasimha Rao, Surabhi Vani Devi, from the Hyderabad-Mahbubnagar-Rangareddy seat. The pink party's decision to field Vani Devi reflects its intense desire to capture the Hyderabad-Mahbubnagar-Rangareddy seat.
(It has been especially focused on wooing the constituency's voters after it failed to clinch the seat in three previous elections.)
The Congress, on the other hand, has chosen to field Ramulu Naik and G Chinna Reddy for the two seats, respectively. The responsibility of the party's campaign has been divided among CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Malkajgiri MP A Revanth Reddy.
While many believe the party is destined to eventually face a fate of electoral oblivion in Telangana, the Congress' leaders seem determined to stage a comeback - TPCC head N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, and AICC secretaries Ch Vamshichand Reddy and S A Sampath Kumar have been carrying out intensive campaigns across the six districts.
However, the party attracting the most interest regarding its performance in the upcoming elections is likely the BJP, which has been on cloud nine after its surprising
victory in the Dubbaka by-election last year, and its
grand success in the GHMC elections, also held last year.
The leaders of the saffron party have been doing all they can to help incumbent Hyderabad-Mahbubnagar-Rangareddy MLC N Ramachander Rao retain his seat. They have also been pushing the case of G Premendar Reddy, the candidate for the Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda seat.
Aside from the three primary contenders for the two seats (the TRS, the BJP and the Congress), some independent candidates and those from other political parties have also intensified their campaigns to clinch the MLC posts - well-known faces including TJS founder M Kodandaram and Telangana Inti Party's Cheruku Sudhakar are contesting from the Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda MLC seat while former MLC K Nageswar is contesting from Hyderabad-Mahbubnagar-Rangareddy seat.
Meanwhile, Telangana's law enforcement agencies have also been busy. They have taken several steps to ensure that the elections pass by without any untoward incidents. Hyderabad City Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar recently directed all the licensed gun holders in Hyderabad to
deposit their guns to authorised arms dealers till the elections come to an end.
The elections that have catalysed this flurry of activity will be held on March 14.