The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi is all set to witness a triangular contest between the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the BJP and the Congress in the by-elections to be held on November 3 in Munugode of Telangana. With few days left, all the three parties are burning midnight oil to win the seat at any cost. But there remains a big question mark on who will emerge on top in this assembly constituency.
Money seems to have been an influencing factor as people from different walks of life talked about the upcoming by-elections. “We have five votes in the house. I want to get my daughter married next month and will spend Rs 5 lakh for this. Candidates are spending a lot of money, so whoever gives Rs 2,50,000 (Rs 50,000 for each vote) to our family, we will vote for them. This will help us a lot,” said a 50-year-old man.
A flower seller said that she has not received any money from any candidate so far and even if she does, she will stick to her personal choice on the day of polling. “I came to know that they (candidates) are distributing money to voters. This money has not come to me yet. Whenever I have participated in election campaign I always get lunch and get Rs.500. Let’s see who comes to us and pays how much. I will not refuse to give money, but in the end, I will vote for whomever I want to vote for.”
A 30-year-old man said that he has already earned Rs 20,000 by telling various parties that he will support and support them in the by-elections. “Whichever party you go to, they give you Rs 10,000 when you join and will give you Rs 10,000 more if you come to power later. I have attended more than one party and have earned Rs 20,000 till now. I do not know whether they will give me the balance amount or not, but I am getting Rs 500, biryani and liquor daily in the evening to participate in the election campaign, no matter which party I attend,” he said.
With victory on their mind, candidates from all three major parties are using money to garner support and, above all, votes in the election. An unofficial estimate suggests that they may spend Rs 1,000 crore.
“I just attended a caste-based meeting organized by the BJP. He gave me Rs 400 and lunch. We have four votes in the house. Candidates of all parties are ready to vote for us. If both BJP and TRS candidates give us money, then we will divide our family votes equally among both the parties.
The candidates swung into action soon after the bypoll schedule was announced. He spent a huge amount for the voters during Dussehra (Dussehra) as well as Deepawali celebrations.
“During Dussehra celebrations, they (candidates) gave a goat to a group of 10, they distributed liquor and even money to buy crackers during Diwali. Even now if I ask for some money, they will send it. If I need cash for some petty purchase, I only have to ask the village in-charge,” said Yelaiya, a native of Chinna Konduru village under Munugode constituency.
As for the candidates, a total of 47 are contesting including former TRS MLA Kusukuntala Prabhakar Reddy, sitting BJP MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy and Congress’s Palvai Shravanthi Reddy, daughter of the late senior Congress leader. Palvai Govardhan Reddy had to hold the by-election after the sitting MLA resigned from the assembly and the Congress joined the BJP.
TRS has posted one MLA in each MPTC and one minister in each mandal of the constituency. The by-election is a matter of prestige for the Pink Party, with chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, ministers KT Rama Rao and Harish Rao serving as in-charges in a village in Munugode.
This is the first electoral test for the regional TRS, when it announced that it would change its name to Bharat Rashtra Samithi, or BRS, to become a national one.
“Rajagopal Reddy was sold to the BJP and forced to hold bypolls in the constituency. After joining the saffron party, he secured civil contracts worth Rs 18,000 crore. There was no development in his three-year tenure as MLA. You can see for yourself what kind of development took place when I was MLA. If we win, we will definitely complete all pending works on a war footing,” said Kusukuntala Prabhakar Reddy News18,
The BJP has taken the bypolls as a challenge and fears that its national image may be tarnished if it fails to send Rajagopal to the assembly. By winning this seat, the party wants to give a “feel-good” signal ahead of the assembly elections to be held in 2023. It is also trying its best to consider the notion that BJP is an alternative to TRS.
Hence, state as well as BJP national leaders, such as state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar, MLAs Raghunandan Rao and Eatala Rajender, are intensifying their campaign for Raj Gopal.
“TRS is misusing official machinery and taking money in police escort vehicles. He is also trying to woo voters by distributing money and liquor. Illegal activities of the ruling party will not work. A total of 100 ruling party MLAs have been deployed to defeat a sitting MLA. What is the need of posting all the MLAs here (Munugode)? If KCR has really done some good work for the people, then why so many people are needed for campaigning? I am clearly saying that I have resigned for the development of this constituency. Had I not tendered my resignation, would KCR Munugode have gone? Will KTR take up this seat? Will they implement development and welfare programs in the constituency?” While talking to Raj Gopal asked News18,
Rejecting the allegations leveled by the ruling party on his contracts, the BJP candidate said he has been a businessman since 1985 and advised his opponents to differentiate between politics and business.
The MLA has been active in state politics for the past two decades in Nalgonda district, of which Munugode is a part. His brother has represented Bhongir in the Lok Sabha as a Congress leader. In fact, his brother distanced himself from campaigning for Congress candidate Sravanthi, while an purported audio clip of him calling Congress leaders to vote for his brother in Munugode became a hot topic in Munugode.
Meanwhile, Sravanthi has tried his best to “expose” the BJP and TRS during his election campaign. State Congress President Revanth Reddy is also actively participating in the election campaign and has tried his best to win the seat.
Munugode has been a Congress stronghold for decades. The political history of our family will definitely increase my chances of winning the seat. There are many electoral strategies against my candidature, but no one can stop me from winning the seat. People are with me. Whatever money and liquor BJP and TRS are distributing to people, they (voters) support me. These parties are making children addicted to alcohol. Though I had proposed to hold elections without distributing liquor, none of the party candidates came forward to support me. News18,
Will migration affect the election?
Political parties are making every effort to woo the communities with more than two lakh votes. The BJP hunted down former TRS MP Bura Narasaiya Gaur, who constitute 15 per cent of the constituency’s population, to attract voters from the Gaur community.
Opposing this, the TRS removed senior BJP leaders Swami Gaur, who served as the chairman of the state legislative council, Palle Ravi and Dasoju Shravan. TRS working president KT Rama Rao also tried to woo voters by holding separate meetings with caste-based unions.
It seems that the youth is more inclined towards BJP as compared to other political parties. “BJP is nothing but Hindutva. It is the only political party which protects our culture. TRS is cheating Hindus by colluding with AIMIM. No DSC (for Government Teacher Posts) exam has been conducted in the state in the last eight years. Unemployed youth are waiting for jobs. The promises made (by the TRS) in the 2014 elections have not been fulfilled and the party has a practice of deceiving the people in various ways. The only way to teach them a lesson is to defeat the TRS candidate in the bypolls.
What about the mandate of the voters?
Telangana Journalist Adhyayan Vedika, a platform for Telangana journalists studying various issues, has done an in-depth study of the election campaign trend in Munugode.
“In general, bypolls are favorable to the ruling party. The same can happen here (Munugode). Though there is an emotional outlook towards the BJP, majority of the voters are of the opinion that development will go with the ruling party. The desert will not have much impact on the election result,” said senior journalist Bodhanpalli Venugopal Reddy.
According to him, the sympathy factor is also working in favor of the Congress for the last four days. If women sentiment and the traditional vote bank for the Congress are added to the sympathy factor, the party’s chances of victory may improve in the coming days.
When it comes to the BJP candidate, Telangana journalist Adhyayan Vedika analyzed that people had high expectations from Raj Gopal. Though voters have a good opinion of the BJP candidate, his electoral prospects will depend on how far he will go in terms of using money as an effective tool.
Meanwhile, the CM is all set to campaign in Munugode on Sunday. The much-awaited public meeting of BJP national president JP Nadda on October 31 has been cancelled.
(Those who shared their opinion with News18 have not been named, requesting anonymity)
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