TRS' litmus test as two crucial MLC seats in Telangana go to polls on Sunday
The immediate impact of these elections is expected to be on the by-election to Nagarjunasagar assembly seat likely to be held in April.
The elections to two vacant seats in the Telangana state legislative council from graduates’ constituencies will be held on Sunday and are being described as a litmus test for the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi headed by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Polling will be held from 8 am to 4 pm in two graduates’ constituencies, each comprising three districts: Hyderabad-Ranga Reddy-Mahabubnagar and Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda. As many as 10,36,565 graduates including 3,67,808 women will exercise their franchise at 1,530 polling stations in these two constituencies.
What makes this electoral battle more significant is that these six districts account for 75 out of 119 assembly constituencies in the state, thereby reflecting the mood of educated voters and indicating a possible outcome of the state assembly elections scheduled in 2023.
“The victory or defeat in these MLC elections doesn’t make much of a difference to the TRS in terms of the numbers in the 40-member state legislative council as it has a huge majority with a strength of 36 members. But a defeat will indicate the voters’ perception against the ruling party which will have a bearing on its prospects in the coming elections,” political analyst Suresh Dharur said.
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The immediate impact of these elections is expected to be on the by-election to Nagarjunasagar assembly seat likely to be held in April, besides elections to Khammam and Warangal municipal corporations, dates for which are yet to be decided.
That is precisely why the TRS has taken the MLC elections to these two seats very prestigiously. The ruling party has already sensed the changing mood of the people with its defeat, albeit with a lesser margin, in the by-elections to Dubbak assembly seat in Medak district, followed by a serious drubbing in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections.
The TRS has mobilised all its resources to win these two seats at any cost. For the Hyderabad-Ranga Reddy-Mahabubnagar graduates’ constituency, the party president has chosen Surabhi Vani Devi, daughter of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao.
It is a strategic move on the part of KCR since the state has been celebrating the birth centenary year of Narasimha Rao, the only Telangana leader to rise to the position of the Prime Minister of the country. Naturally, the TRS wants to cash in on this Telangana sentiment.
The TRS mobilised all its party machinery to campaign in support of Vani Devi. Right from the party working president and KCR’s son KT Rama Rao, daughter K Kavitha and nephew T Harish Rao, the entire battalion of cabinet plunged into action, covering every section of graduates’ community.
KCR held an interaction with state government employees, who constitute a large chunk of graduate voters and promised them a salary hike of 29 per cent, as against 7 per cent recommended by the Pay Revision Commission.
Since Vani Devi herself is an academic, the TRS made extensive campaign among the teaching community to attract their voters. “It is a masterstroke of KCR to field her in the MLC elections, as being the daughter of the former Prime Minister, she commands tremendous goodwill among the educated voters,” Dharur said.
On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in high spirits after its victory in Dubbak and an impressive show in the GHMC elections, is keen on repeating its performance in the MLC elections. It has once again fielded its sitting MLC N Ramachander Rao, who has huge support among the advocates, in Hyderabad-Ranga Reddy-Mahabubnagar constituency.
What makes the contest more interesting in this constituency is the entry of Osmania University professor K Nageshwar who represented the seat twice in the past, as an independent. He is a prominent face among educated voters.
The Congress fielded former minister G Chinna Reddy and TDP its state president L Ramana, but both have very bleak chances. Besides, as many as 88 other independent candidates are also in the fray.
In Khammam-Warangal-Nalgonda graduates’ constituency, where 71 contestants are in the fray, the fight is mainly between TRS candidate Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, the sitting MLC and Professor M Kodandaram of Telangana Jana Samithi.
Kondandaram, once a protégé of KCR during the Telangana movement, fell apart from the latter and floated his own regional party before the 2018 assembly elections. Though he has not achieved any success in the electoral battle till now, he commands tremendous respect among the educated Telangana youth. That makes his chances of winning the MLC seat brighter.
The BJP has fielded its general secretary G Premender Reddy, who has a considerable cadre base in Warangal, but the party has little presence in Khammam and Nalgonda and that might prove disadvantageous to him.