Time is money, literally, more so when it’s election time. Candidates and aspirants of tickets from political parties will tell you how the ‘cost’ of election escalates if the date of polling is extended even by a few days.
The election to the Telangana Legislative Assembly is proving to be a costly affair, comparatively, for TRS nominees and a few ticket aspirants from opposition parties in the 10 Assembly constituencies in the erstwhile Adilabad district, who have already launched their campaign.
Against the expectations of election process coming to an end in November, the Election Commission has scheduled it to get over in the first half of December, resulting in extended time for campaigning.
“In the present circumstances, this has become financially burdensome,” pointed out one of the campaign managers of TRS Adilabad constituency, Jogu Ramanna.
According to the grapevine, each candidate is spending anywhere between ₹2 lakh to ₹3 lakh per day on organising campaign meetings, which includes transport bills and more importantly, ‘payment’ to those who form the campaign contingent.
Problem with rallies
The TRS and Bharatiya Janata Party have already organised bike rallies and other programmes as part of their campaigns in almost all the constituencies. It is common knowledge here that those who organised these affairs offer one litre of petrol per person in addition to ₹200 in cash and a packet of food, all costing around ₹350.
“Such shows grow bigger and prove much costlier with the passing of each day as rivals feel the need to outdo each other. A rally could cost upwards of ₹10 lakh a few days from now and the frequency of similar shows needs to be increased,” calculated a Congress leader.
TRS candidates grilled
Another aspect which an extended election period throws up is the crystallisation of negative opinion on any given party or anti-incumbency against the ruling party. “Voters get time to ponder over the lapses of candidates made during their previous tenures and grill them during their visits,” a TRS leader opined.
The trend of voters questioning TRS candidates over their dismal performance is picking up. Many candidates are even being denied entry into villages, which were neglected in terms of development by the candidates, as happened to TRS Khanapur (ST) candidate A. Rekha Naik at Badampalli on October 8 and Boath (ST) candidate Rathod Bapu Rao at Kolhari the previous day.
