Independents give major political parties the jitters

The tough fight being given by Congress and TRS rebels besides an Independent in this segment, which forms part of Peddapalli constituency, may throw up a surprise when it goes to polls on April 30.

Candidates belonging to the major political parties in this Assembly segment are a bundle of nerves with as many as four independents in the fray.

The tough fight being given by Congress and TRS rebels besides an Independent in this segment, which forms part of Peddapalli parliamentary constituency, may throw up a surprise when it goes to polls on April 30.

Congress has given ticket to Babar Saleem while the TRS preferred to back Somarapu Satyanarayana, an Independent, who joined it later. BJP which got the seat as part of seat-sharing with TDP has fielded its former MLA from Peddapalli G. Ramakrishna Reddy.

Irked by the allotment of ticket to Mr. Babar, local Congress leader Kaushik Hari who has been expelled for not retiring from the contest is giving a tough time. Similarly, Gopu Ilaiah, former TDP leader, irked by the seat being given to the BJP has entered the fray as an Independent.

The TRS too is facing trouble with K. Chander continuing in the contest as independent.

The independents are all set to spoil the chances of official candidates. Adding to the worry of the mainstream parties is the presence of Makhan Singh alias Raja Thakur, a former YSR Congress Party leader, who quit and entered the fray as Independent. All the four leaders are well known in the constituency and enjoy grassroots support from the people.

With an electorate of 2.10 lakhs, candidate securing close to 40,000 votes is a sure winner. Congress candidate is banking on the Muslim vote. The TRS candidate is eyeing the Singareni Collieries workers’ support to improve his chances. Incidentally, Mr. Somarapu Satyanarayan had won as Congress rebel in the 2009 elections after the seat was given to Mr. Babar.