All eyes on Munugode as campaigning intensifies

Hyderabad: Political excitement stemming from the run-up to the Munugode by-poll, slated to be held on November 3, is gathering steam with the constituency witnessing an unusually acerbic war of words from political parties. With just three weeks left for polling, leaders from both the ruling and opposition parties are flocking the constituency to campaign […]

Hyderabad: Political excitement stemming from the run-up to the Munugode by-poll, slated to be held on November 3, is gathering steam with the constituency witnessing an unusually acerbic war of words from political parties.

With just three weeks left for polling, leaders from both the ruling and opposition parties are flocking the constituency to campaign for their candidates. The constituency’s development and the now infamous Rs.18,000 crore contract awarded by the union government to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy, are taking centre-stage during the campaigning.

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The by-poll was necessitated with the resignation of former Congress MLA Rajgopal Reddy, who defected to the BJP in August this year. Apart from Rajgopal Reddy, former MLA Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi) and Palwai Sravanthi from the Congress are the main contenders in the fray.

The by-election has become a matter of prestige for all the three major political parties, who immediately after announcing their candidates, have swung into action and are into rigorous campaigning across the constituency.

The ruling TRS (BRS), which appears to have an edge over others, is leaving no stone unturned to win the by-poll, wrest back the seat and re-assert its hold over the State. Party leaders including Ministers, MLAs and MPs are conducting door-to-door campaigns, road shows and public meetings to explain the developmental activities taken up by the State government across the State.

While party supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had already addressed a public meeting recently at Munugode, the party’s working president and Minister KT Rama Rao is all set to tour the constituency on Thursday.

Both the Left parties – CPI and CPI(M), which hold sway over some segments of the constituency, have already joined hands with the TRS (BRS) to defeat the BJP, which is already facing flak for the alleged Rs.18,000 crore contract, which its rivals are calling a quid pro quo deal.

The TRS, in particular, has managed to corner the BJP over the contract to Rajgopal Reddy, stating that the latter’s greed for money led to the by-poll. The Congress too has slammed Reddy for ‘imposing’ a by-election on Munugode for the sake of the contract.

Making it clear that development was on top of his party’s agenda, Rama Rao has even offered to withdraw the party candidate from the fray, if the Centre was willing to announce a Rs.18,000 crore package for the development of Nalgonda district.

“Our priority is development of the State and well-being of the people rather than our political gains. The party already has around 105 members in the State Assembly and the result of the by-poll will not change our position. But we are contesting the by-poll to defeat the BJP, which has made its political agenda a priority over the people of this nation,” he said recently.

Meanwhile, the BJP leadership is planning to fly down union Ministers and a couple of Chief Ministers from BJP-ruled States to campaign for Rajgopal Reddy. The BJP is keen to take advantage of the strong presence of the Komatireddy brothers in Nalgonda district. Interestingly, giving credence to statements from the TRS that both the Komatireddy brothers had a secret pact, elder brother and Congress MP from Bhongir, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, has refrained from campaigning on behalf of his party candidate Sravanthi citing internal issues with his party leaders.