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Parties go on a spending spree in bid to win the Munugode by-poll
A defeat in the by-poll will turn all the plans of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to play a bigger role in the national politics.
The by-election to Munugode assembly constituency in Telangana’s Nalgonda district, scheduled to be held on November 3, may as well turn out to be the costliest by-election ever witnessed in the state, if one were to go by the money being splurged by the contestants of three major political parties: Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
The by-election, necessitated by the resignation of sitting MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, who defected from the Congress to the BJP, has become a matter of prestige for all the three parties.
The Congress is desperate to win the by-election, because it will not only be a morale booster ahead of the next assembly elections but also an endorsement of Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy’s leadership .
For the BJP, it is a must win in Munugode, as it will reflect the people’s changing mood towards it. For the ruling TRS, it is an opportunity to prove its supremacy and hold over the state at a time when it is being transformed into a national party.
A defeat in the by-poll will turn all the plans of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to play a bigger role in the national politics.
The local issues like incomplete Shivannaguda balancing reservoir as part of the RVSR Dindi lift irrigation scheme, lack of compensation to Cherlagudem project oustees, plight of people in the fluorosis-affected villages and distribution of pattas to tribals cultivating podu lands etc, which regularly figure during the assembly elections, have taken a back seat during the campaign in the present by-election.
What seems to matter most is how much money each candidate is spending to lure voters. “The present rate being offered to each voter is around ₹5,000. It is expected to get doubled as the polling date approaches,” says Pochampally Anand, a village elder and a Congress sympathiser in Shivannagudem village.
“The sad part of the electioneering is that the agriculture labourers, who are supposed to be involved in hectic agriculture operations by now, have stopped attending the same and are attending meetings and rallies of the political parties, for which they are beingpaid money ranging from ₹500 to ₹1,000 per person, apart from food and liquor,” Anand said.
One can notice community kitchens in several villages, where lunches and dinners are served to the people brought to the meetings. About a week ago, a video of a local TRS leader – Rajanala Srihari — distributing a quarter bottle of liquor and a live fowl to “hamalis” of local rice millers, was widely distributed on the social media platforms.
During the Dussehra festivities, there were reports that the contestants had distributed one kg of chicken and a bottle of liquor to each family in the rural areas. “Now that Diwali is approaching, there is a talk that the TRS and the BJP have promised one tola (10 gms) of gold to each family, since gold is the best way to cash in on the people’s sentiment during the festival of lights,” said Subhash Kanchukatla from Marriguda village, a prominent social activist working for fluorosis victims.
Senior journalist S Ramakrishna, who is a native of Nalgonda, said though election observers are touring all parts of Munugode constituency, they are not able to stop the splurging of money by the parties.
“There are close to 188 habitations in Munugode and there are police check-posts everywhere, but distribution of money is being done elsewhere, particularly in Hyderabad which is hardly 70-75 km away,” Ramakrishna alleged.
More than luring voters individually, the contestants of major political parties have been spending huge money on attracting local public representatives from the rival parties. “Munugode has become a “money godu” (cry for money). Sarpanches and local mandal (block)-level leaders are jumping from one party to the other under the influence of money,” Kanchukatla said.
According to him, BJP candidate Rajagopal Reddy had paid ₹10 lakh to each sarpanch and ₹20 lakh to a mandal-level leader, much before the issuance of election notification on October 7. “Now, TRS candidate K Prabhakar Reddy and Congress candidate Palwai Sravanthi, are also forced to spend more money to retain their party leaders from jumping the fence,” he said.
Anand said one could see many new cars of various brands, ranging from Maruti Brezza to Toyota Innova being used by the local leaders in the electioneering for the BJP. “Similarly, there are TRS workers driving newly-acquired bikes in our village. How have these people have acquired brand new vehicles overnight is anybody’s guess,” he said.
On record, each candidate can spend to maximum extent of ₹40 lakh on the assembly by-election, as was evident from the way TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao giving a cheque of ₹40 lakh to his party candidate K Prabhakar Reddy, while announcing his candidature.
“Everybody knows it’s just a pittance. Though it is difficult to prove the election expenditure, there are reports that the main contestants are spending not less than ₹200 crore to ₹500 crore on Munugode by-poll,” Kanchukatla added.
