As the Huzurabad bypoll campaign heats up with the filing of nominations, the election results will be a test not for the competence of the candidates or political parties alone but also for the image of the heads of the three political parties – K Chandrashekhar Rao Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Indian Bandi Sanjay of Janata Party (BJP) and A Revanth Reddy of Congress.
The last two face their first elections in various aspects after taking over as heads of their state units. Huzurabad comes under Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency which is represented by aggressive Mr. Sanjay and it will be a test to prove his strength in his constituency for the first time since he is elected.
The BJP saw a major takeoff soon after taking over the new role, winning the Dubbaka by-election, and surprising the ruling party in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections by winning the most divisions in its history. The Hindutva campaign narrative in the GHMC elections was set by him and the TRS was in a quandary to either reject it or follow it or continue with its initial slogan of politics of development. Before the ruling party could devise a counter-strategy, religious sentiments prevailed. AIMIM, a friendly party of the TRS, also contributed to the escalation of sentiments, eventually favoring the BJP.
But Huzurabad is a different turf and realizing that religious sentiments cannot be incited in this rural constituency, he is easily targeting corruption in the government. Mr. Sanjay has ended his walkathon with a huge public meeting in his Karimnagar constituency and is being seen as a prelude to the by-election. He can take some rest as the election is being seen as a fight between Mr. Rajendra and KCR and not between BJP and TRS.
This is the first election for the equally aggressive Revanth Reddy as Telangana Congress chief after overcoming challenges from seniors in the party. He has been successful in energizing party workers who were frustrated after a series of defection of legislators in the ruling party. The ‘Dalita Girijana Dandora’ meetings created much-needed buzz for the party and by holding the last meeting at Gajwel, which was represented by the Chief Minister, he has given a strong signal to the party workers that he is ready to fight.
Neither the party high command nor the Congress workers are hoping for a win here as the Huzurabad seat was never its kitty in the last two decades, but getting good votes will help the party in the long run. The party has played a safe game by fielding a youth and its student wing president Venkat Balamuri. Mr Reddy’s leadership may not be judged by the outcome, though his opponents in the party will raise the issue.
But Chief Minister K. In Chandrasekhar Rao’s case, the battle is not limited to his party’s victory, but to defeat his longtime party colleague and trusted lieutenant and now BJP candidate Eatala Rajender, who has questioned his leadership and ‘iron politics’. . . A landslide victory will only satisfy KCR and nothing less.
A skilled political strategist, he has already deployed an army of his party leaders and ministers to mentally kill Mr. Rajendra, alienating his closest followers from him. The launch of the ‘Dalita Bandhu’ scheme from Huzurabad as a pilot project will be seen as a master political stroke and will also be seen as a distraction from the earlier focus of the bypoll campaign.
A huge victory here will suppress any thoughts of dissent in TRS and KCR’s leadership in Telangana cannot be questioned. The other two, even if they lose, may fall on some pretext that people can buy.
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