As the campaign vehicle rolled over the sun-baked roads amid beating of drums and the roar of microphone sets, the passers-by cared to turn their heads towards Panabaka Lakshmi, the TDP candidate for the byelection to the Tirupati (SC) Lok Sabha constituency.
This is in sharp contrast to the 2019 general elections, when the people hardly took note of the TDP campaign, as the ‘Jagananna’ wave touched the crest.
“Now, the same voters are walking towards us to overtly express their support to our party. My win is certain if the elections are conducted in a free and fair manner,” Ms. Lakshmi told The Hindu in an interview in the course of her campaign.
Braving the scorching heat wave and the lurking risk of COVID-19, the TDP candidate is trying to cover every corner of the constituency that comprises seven Assembly segments – three in Chittoor and four in Nellore districts.
‘Misuse of power’
A day after TDP State president K. Atchannaidu launched a mobile number, urging the people to send complaints of intimidation by the village / ward volunteers, Ms. Lakshmi fumed at the manner in which the “unofficial entity” had become an intrinsic part of the State’s administrative hierarchy, especially in reaching out benefits and social welfare schemes to the deserving people.
While the revenue officials, policemen, elected representatives and party leaders have always sided with the ruling party, the extended set-up of volunteers has given an extra edge to the ruling dispensation, which, she alleges, is adopting a “carrot and stick” policy towards the voters.
“An illiterate woman in the remote Kota (Nellore district) village has confessed that the village volunteer will get to know her voting choice as a mobile alert, and issues a veiled threat that it will affect her pension if she fails to vote for the ruling party. Does this not amount to cheating the gullible voters?” she sought to know.
The TDP has reiterated its oft-made accusation that the BJP and the YSRCP have formed an “unholy alliance,” albeit clandestinely, to eliminate the TDP from the political landscape.
“Both have found us to be a hard nut to crack. Ours is a cadre-based party, which will certainly have an impact in the rural areas,” Ms. Lakshmi pointed out, before hopping into the campaign vehicle for a second spell of canvassing.
