The stage is set for election to two of the three Graduates’ constituencies of the Legislative Council spread over 76 Assembly constituencies in six districts of the State on Sunday.
The two Graduates’ constituencies represent two clusters of erstwhile districts, Hyderabad - Rangareddy - Mahabubnagar and Khammam - Warangal - Nalgonda, where polling will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The counting of votes will be taken up on Wednesday in Hyderabad and Nalgonda respectively though the distribution of poll material to staff was decentralised in individual districts.
The election for the third Graduates’ constituency in the district representing Karimnagar - Nizamabad - Adilabad and Medak was held a few years ago when Congress candidate T. Jeevan Reddy won.
The TRS and BJP are vying to retain their seats in the two constituencies but both parties face stiff challenge from rivals.
The contest in Hyderabad - Rangareddy - Mahabubnagar was mainly between former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao’s daughter Vanidevi of TRS and the incumbent MLC N. Ramchander Rao of BJP. Prof. K. Nageswar, who is backed by the CPI, G. Chinna Reddy of Congress and L. Ramana of TDP are also in the fray. There are 93 contesting candidates here, including nearly 80 Independents.
In Khammam - Warangal - Nalgonda, the sitting MLC of TRS Palla Rajeswara Reddy was facing G. Premender Reddy of BJP and Telangana Jana Samiti president M. Kodandaram. They were up against a former MLC Ramulu Naik of Congress, Ms. Ranirudrama Devi of Yuva Telangana Party and Mr. Jayasaradhi Reddy of CPI. A former TV journalist Chintapandu Naveen Kumar, who is better known as Teenmaar Mallanna, the name with which he was identified while performing a satirical political programme on a TV channel, was also a strong contender.
All the parties and contestants made a last ditch effort to reach out to voters on Saturday. Finance Minister T. Harish Rao, who was deeply involved in the campaign for TRS in Rangareddy district, was said to have held a marathon teleconference with party in-charges of the district. State BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar offered prayers at Bhadrakali temple in Warangal. The parties had hired a number of function halls to accommodate their workers involved in the campaign.
