High stakes as Telangana goes to municipal polls today

An election staffer in Sangareddy district on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit:
MOHD ARIF

Hyderabad

As Telangana braces for crucial municipal elections on Wednesday, political stakes are running high for all major parties, particularly the ruling party, trying to impress the 52 lakh voters in urban areas.

While the Congress is keen on consolidating its hold at the grassroots, the BJP is aiming to sustain the momentum it gained by winning eight Lok Sabha seats, and the BRS is looking to reassert itself as the principal opposition to the ruling party.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy took personal charge of the campaign, addressing a series of public meetings across the State, soon after returning from the United States. With the entire Cabinet deployed on the ground, he fixed clear responsibility on ministers to ensure victory for the Congress in their respective constituencies.

During the campaign, the Chief Minister consistently urged voters to support the ruling party for effective local governance, asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and their respective parties would be ‘irrelevant’ when it came to resolving civic issues.

He also repeatedly attempted to equate BRS and BJP, describing them as “Siamese twins” with no real differences in approach or intent. The Chief Minister also tried to raise the absence of KCR in the poll campaign as an indication of the party surrendering to BJP.

Region-wise, the electoral contest is expected to be largely between the Congress and BJP in North Telangana, while the Congress is confident of sweeping Khammam and Nalgonda districts. In South Telangana, BRS is expected to give the Congress a tough fight, with BJP influence largely limited to the Mahabubnagar district. Medak district, meanwhile, is seen as a BRS stronghold.

The campaign also saw some leaders losing their cool, and unacceptable vulgarity creeping into their speeches. Leaders of all parties also got a little personal, overstepping on avoidable caste lines and body-shaming.

BRS charge was led by working president K.T. Rama Rao and senior leader Harish Rao, while the BJP moved ahead with its president Ramchander Rao and Union Ministers G. Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay, with the latter confining himself to Karimnagar district.