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Political parties gear up for last leg of Munugode bypoll campaigning
People close to developments said while the TRS and the BJP have moved all their forces in this high-stakes battle, Congress is struggling to mobilise the manpower to campaign for its candidate Palwai Sravanthi.
Campaigning for the Munugode bypoll has reached its crescendo in Telangana’s Nalgonda district, as all the three major parties – the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress have taken it as a battle of prestige, leaders close to developments said on Wednesday. The election is scheduled for November 3.
People close to developments said while the TRS and the BJP have moved all their forces in this high-stakes battle, Congress is struggling to mobilise the manpower to campaign for its candidate Palwai Sravanthi.
For TRS candidate K Prabhakar Reddy, who represented this constituency between 2014 and 2019, the entire party machinery – right from ministers to MLAs to MLCs, besides local leaders – has been positioned in Munugode.
While state power minister G Jagadish Reddy, who hails from Nalgonda district, is spearheading the main campaign of the TRS, other top leaders of the party including TRS working president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s son K T Rama Rao making a whirlwind tour of the constituency regularly.
Similarly, state finance minister and KCR’s nephew T Harish Rao, panchayat raj minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao, animal husbandry minister T Srinivas Yadav and every other cabinet minister have been extensively touring every nook and corner of Munugode assembly constituency.
Besides ministers, a large number of MLAs, MLCs and even MPs are involved in door-to-door campaigns in every village of the constituency. “There is virtually no government in the state, as all the ministers are camping in Munugode for the last few days. Even the chief minister had been in Delhi for over a week, leaving the administration in the hands of the officials,” political analyst Ramu Suravajjula said.
As the campaigning is ending next week, the chief minister himself has decided to enter the scene and address a huge public rally at Munugode on October 30 (Monday). “We are planning to mobilise over a lakh of people for the meeting and that will be the final blow to the BJP,” minister Jagadish Reddy said.
The BJP, too, is not far behind the TRS in its campaign. Its top leaders, including Union minister G Kishan Reddy, BJP state president Bandi Sanjay, MLAs Eatala Rajender and M Raghunandan Rao and many other second-rung leaders are undertaking extensive campaigning for party candidate Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, whose resignation from the assembly seat necessitated the by-election in Munugode.
Though the BJP, unlike the TRS, doesn’t have much cadre strength in the Nalgonda district and the network of leaders, Rajagopal Reddy has a strong support base in the constituency. “At least 60 per cent of the Congress leaders, who were with Rajagopal Reddy when he was in the Congress, have now shifted their loyalties to the BJP. He is banking purely on their support,” P Anand, a local Congress supporter from Marriguda block, said.
As a last-ditch effort, the BJP is roping in its national president J P Nadda to address a huge public meeting at Munugode on October 31, the penultimate day of the campaign. “We were planning to bring Union home minister Amit Shah to the campaign, but he is too busy with his schedule for the Himachal Pradesh elections,” a senior BJP leader said.
On the other hand, Congress finds itself in a tough position in the constituency compared to the other two big forces. “Sravanthi is no doubt putting up a lone battle, supported by PCC president A Revanth Reddy, who is also extensively touring the constituency for the campaign. But she is not able to match the other two contenders in money and manpower,” Anand said.
Nevertheless, several senior Congress leaders, including former PCC chief and MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, former minister Mohd Ali Shabbir and others have been campaigning for Sravanthi.
“However, they are not able to dedicate much time to her, as they are focussing on making the Bharat Jodo padayatra of Rahul Gandhi, which has entered Telangana state, a big success. As a result, the campaigning of the Congress in Munugode has lost its focus,” senior journalist and political analyst Ramakrishna Sangem said.
According to a Congress leader, the PCC chief is planning to hold a public meeting with Rahul Gandhi at Shamshabad, which is closer to the Munugode assembly constituency, on October 31, where voters would be mobilised in large numbers. “The details have not yet been worked out,” he added.
