About 5.77 lakh voters in six districts will exercise their franchise in the elections to fill vacancies for two graduates’ constituencies of Telangana Legislative Council on Sunday. Though the elections are on non-party basis, the contesting candidates are identified by parties supporting them. The elections will be held for a cluster of three districts each – Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Mahabubnagar and Warangal, Nalgonda, Khammam. The contest in both constituencies is mainly between the TRS and BJP-TDP alliance but a Left parties’ backed candidate is giving a tough fight in Nalgonda and Khammam where they wield considerable influence. The Congress, which is contesting the polls to graduates constituencies for the first time, is not so serious going by the election campaign which is dominated by the BJP and TRS. The BJP deployed four Union Ministers in the campaign.
The TRS will face an acid test in the polls in the backdrop of delay in notifications for jobs by the Telangana State Public Service Commission and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s recent statement that District Selection Committee exams for recruitment of teachers will not be held merely for creating jobs. It is a keen contest in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Mahabubnagar where BJP’s nominee N. Ramchander Rao is pitted against the president of Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers Association G. Deviprasad Rao who entered the fray as TRS candidate. Interestingly, Mr. Rao is the second preference candidate of Telangana advocates joint action committee though he was a member of the Bar Council of India. The advocates JAC has asked its members to give first preference vote to Mr. Deviprasad Rao who was in the forefront of Telangana struggle.
Errabelli Rammohan Rao of BJP, Palla Rajeswara Reddy of TRS and S. Prabhakar Reddy of Left parties are testing their luck at Warangal, Nalgonda and Khammam. Mr. Rammohan Rao is actively involved in philanthropy and runs some educational institutions in Warangal while Mr. Rajeswara Reddy who contested last Lok Sabha elections from Nalgonda owns quite a few colleges. Mr. Prabhakar Reddy is a former president of OU Arts College. The counting of votes will take place on Wednesday at the indoor complex in Victory Play Grounds here and NG College in Nalgonda.
