Determined to send a strong message to two national parties – the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress -- that the people of Telangana are still sailing with them, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi has been making all-out efforts to win the Medak Lok Sabha bypoll with a huge majority.
Though the Medak Lok Sabha constituency is a stronghold for the party, the TRS was not ready to take any chance which may adversely impact the majority of the party candidate. With an intention to see that the other parties could not find even agents at some places during the day of polling, the TRS has been attracting leaders from other parties and they were focusing on roping in lowest-level leaders like panchayat sarpanches, ward members and even booth-level leaders.
All the joining meetings were being reportedly supervised personally by none other than party senior leader and Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao. Recently, senior Congress leaders Mohd. Fareeduddin and Swamicharan and BJP leader Ch Narendranath joined the party in the presence of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in Hyderabad. As recently as two days back, Mr. Harish Rao attended two meetings held at Patancheru and Sangareddy where the leaders from Congress, TDP and BJP were admitted in the party.
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Even Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy has attended a party workers’ meeting at Narsapur, the native constituency of Congress candidate V. Sunitha Lakshma Reddy, and admitted TDP leaders Ashok Goud, Mallesham Yadav and Narasimha Reddy.
In mandals like Mirdoddi, Chegunta and other areas the leaders who left the party during the general elections were returning. “The TRS is cleverly playing a mind game where it is trying to attract village-level leaders crucial in bringing voters to the booths. Village-level leaders were also not ready to lose the advantage they can have being with the ruling party,” a police officer said.
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