TRS in top gear; set to sweep Assembly polls

The surveys, carried out soon after the victory in the Munugode bypoll, have indicated that TRS party would win above 100 seats in the 119-seat Assembly

Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi) is all set for a resounding victory and to retain power in the State after the Assembly elections in 2023, according to multiple surveys conducted across Telangana by different organisations.

The surveys, carried out soon after the victory in the Munugode bypoll, which saw the TRS romping home with a 10,000-plus vote majority, have indicated that the party would win above 100 seats in the 119-seat Assembly. In these, the party would muster a vote share of 35-plus per cent in 94 seats, while in at least 40 constituencies, TRS candidates would record a vote share of more than 50 per cent. In 16 seats, the party would get a vote share of 30 per cent and above.

With the survey indicating that AIMIM, too, would win in seven seats, the TRS would once again have a two-thirds majority and retain power comfortably, according to five surveys done by different agencies.

While the surveys hinted that the BJP might scrape through in five to six seats, the most interesting outcome was that the surveys pointed at the Congress ending up in a distant second position across the State. Though the Congress would get only nominal vote shares, the BJP would be relegated to a third position in all seats except the few where they had some chance at victory.

The surveys, according to sources, were done in two formats, one where different sections of the public were asked for their opinion on the TRS, and the second, where a candidate-wise questionnaire was given in each constituency. While the answers indicated that all the Ministers would win with big majorities, there was more support for the party, with almost all those participating in the surveys stating categorically that the TRS would retain power in Telangana.

Right from daily wage labourers to farmers, traders to real estate businessmen and the general public, the unanimous opinion was that with its initiatives in ensuring drinking water, 24×7 free power supply for farmers, speedy disposal of industrial applications through systems such as the TS-bPASS and most importantly, maintenance of law and order, there was no visible reason to upset the apple cart by voting against the TRS.

The BJP candidates, most of the respondents pointed out, had lost their deposits in 105 seats in the 2018 elections, and the saffron party had done nothing for Telangana that could change the situation now. Moreover, the people were witnessing what the BJP was doing while in power in Karnataka and Maharashtra. Industrialists and businessmen, especially, remarked that the ‘hijab’ and ‘halal’ controversies had destroyed the much-talked-about Silicon Valley in Bengaluru, while the BJP leaders, who were extracting 40 per cent commissions for contract works, were also demanding bribes ranging from Rs 30 to Rs 55 per sft for each construction project in Karnataka, they said.

On the other hand, the surveys indicated not just continuing support, but growing appreciation for most of the TRS Ministers. KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao led the tables with all the surveys indicating that they would get 65 per cent or above of the vote share, while T Padma Rao came in third with a projected vote share of close to 60 per cent.

The projected vote share percentages for other Ministers were 50 or above for Errabelli Dayakar Rao and 51-52 for Vemula Prashant Reddy. Both S Niranjan Reddy and V Srinivas Goud were to garner vote shares of 50 per cent and above, while Puvvada Ajay Kumar would get 53 per cent. Talasani Srinivas Yadav’s vote share was to be in the range of 53-54 per cent.

G Jagadish Reddy was another Minister expected to perform exceedingly well, with his majority itself projected to be around 20 per cent more. The projection for P Sabitha Indra Reddy was 45-46 per cent of the vote share, while for Ch Malla Reddy it was 53-54 per cent. Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy was likely to get 52-53 per cent, while a re-election would be a cakewalk for Minister Koppula Eshwar, apart from MLAs Gampa Govardhan, Bigala Ganesh and Hanmanth Shinde.

Among constituencies, while the TRS would sweep all the 10 each seats in both Medak and Khammam, the surveys said TPCC president A Revanth Reddy might manage just 10 per cent of the vote share in Malkajgiri. While many of the respondents felt that voting for BJP’s G Kishan Reddy was a mistake, many felt the party’s M Raghunandan Rao too would lose this time around.