Eatala Rajender’s victory embarrassed TRS and gave a boost to BJP
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had to face defeat in the Nandigram assembly constituency six months ago. Suvendu Adhikari, who was once his close ally. One such scene recently surfaced in Telangana. Eatala Rajender, Chief Minister K. A close confidante of Chandrasekhar Rao, fell out with the party leadership And resigned from the post of MLA In June this year. Earlier this month, he won the Huzurabad seat by-poll with a majority of 23,855 votes against Gelu Srinivas Yadav of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). This came as a surprise given the highly passionate election atmosphere amid allegations of money-sharing.
TRS working president KT Rama Rao had earlier said that the result would be in favor of the party. Given this belief, the result is a bitter pill for the TRS leadership. The Huzurabad bypoll was the fourth bypoll in the state in the last three years. The results for TRS have been mixed. It won the Huzurnagar and Nagarjunasagar by-elections but lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Dubak and Huzurabad.
switching camp
A series of events starting in May this year, when the West Bengal election results were declared, pushed Mr Rajendra to a corner. Shri Rajendra, a six-time MLA and Minister, was His health department was taken away Hours later some beneficiaries of the allotted land in Medak district complained to the Chief Minister that their The land was being occupied by the minister For expansion of his family owned poultry farm. Two cases were registered against him for trespassing and a committee of senior IAS officers was appointed to probe the allegations.
All the while, Mr. Rajender claimed that he was being framed by the TRS leadership and vowed to take on his opponents. After a brief silence he joined BJP, He started ‘Praja Deewana (Blessing of the people)’, a padyatra in Huzurabad constituency and reached out to the voters. Meanwhile, the TRS government started donating hundreds of crores of rupees to its constituents and launched the much hyped ‘Dalit Bandhu’, a scheme to empower Dalits in micro and small enterprises in this constituency on a pilot basis. . This did not help the party.
Elbow place in BJP
A soft-spoken Backward Class leader who has a substantial following in the constituency, Mr. Rajendra’s recent victory is sure to give him some space in the BJP. While the bypoll was a contest between the TRS and Mr. Rajendra, the result is bound to give a boost to the BJP which was so far an insignificant player in the constituency. A senior BJP functionary says Mr Rajendra will make his way into the saffron party before 2023 along with state BJP chief Bandi Sanjay and Union minister G Kishan Reddy as a strong contender for the chief minister’s post. Though the election has no bearing on 2023, it has given the BJP something to brag about.
Read also | TRS spent ₹600 crore for Huzurabad bypoll: Eatala
TRS leader is trying to play down the results with Mr KT Rama Rao claiming that the result will not have any significant impact on the political scenario of the state. But Mr Rajender’s victory is likely to halt the defection of other parties in the ruling TRS, at least for some time. It is also likely to encourage disgruntled elements to weigh their options.
Meanwhile, the Congress has to find an answer to its dismal performance once again, apart from the series of poor results it has seen in the by-elections it has fought since 2019.
ravi.reddy@thehindu.co.in
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