TDP nowhere
The Telugu Desam which was recently decimated in State politics with the exit of its lone MLA who joined the TRS has suffered blow after blow since the formation of separate Telangana.
The latest jolt that the party had to face was in the by-election to Nagarjunasagar Assembly constituency whose result was declared on Sunday. Its candidate Muvva Arun Kumar polled just 1,708 votes while an independent Talari Rambabu was ahead with 2,970 votes. The TDP was not a strong contender in the election but party leaders never expected it to do so badly.
The by-poll was also a setback to the BJP which was riding high with victory in Dubbaka Assembly by-election and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polls. Its candidate P. Ravi forfeited deposit as he polled only 7,646 votes.
Local bodies’ polls n gender bias
Whenever there are elections to local bodies, either urban or rural, the announcement of candidates by major political parties would have one common feature – that is to announce the candidatures of wards reserved for women with a photo along with the image of their husband or father, in case they are unmarried. It’s repeated again in the elections held to seven urban local bodies including the Warangal and Khammam Corporations, counting of votes for which is scheduled on Monday. When contacted and asked to throw some light on the unwelcome tendency, a ruling party leader said: “It becomes inevitable to have the photos of the women candidates along with their husband or father as it is the men who would be active in public and since the wards are reserved for women they can’t enter the fray. The women who would be actually in fray are lesser known in public, in a majority of cases, and the pictures of husband or father would only for better recognition of the candidate by the electorate”. A strange and convenient explanation indeed as women have proved time and again that they more than what they are portrayed to be.
Action on Eatala, requests come in for similar action against those facing similar charges
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao led State Government has received all round appreciation for its action on the complaints of land grabbing made against senior leader and Minister Eatala Rajender.
The swift manner in which the probe was ordered against Mr. Eatala and submission of the preliminary report by the district collector concerned in less than 24 hours caught everyone by surprise. A section of people and political parties are now urging the government to initiate action against all those facing similar charges of land grabbing.
(N. Rahul, B. Chandrashekhar and M. Rajeev)
