The Telangana Rashtra Samithi meant business straight away as its ministers and senior leaders plunged into campaign for GHMC elections as soon as the deadline for filing of nominations expired at 3 p.m. on Friday.
Half-a-dozen ministers in divisions where they were appointed as party in-charges lost no time in targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party at meetings with cadre and voters. Finance Minister T. Harish Rao criticised the BJP at Patancheru for not fulfilling its promise of creating one crore jobs every year.
He also highlighted that the Centre took up de-staffing in BSNL, railways, Air India, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Oil and Natural Gas Commission.
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Women and Child Welfare Minister Satyavathi Rathod who was not known for her anti-BJP slant criticised the party for taking up privatisation of 23 Central public sector undertakings.
Other ministers like Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Eatala Rajender, V. Srinivas Goud and Koppula Easwar also fired salvos against the BJP in their respective divisions. Mr. Easwar also visited the house of balladeer Gadar at Venkatapuram to introduce to him the local TRS candidate.
The TRS was expected to up the ante against BJP with its working president K.T. Rama Rao’s road shows starting from Kukatpally on Saturday. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao might deliver the final punches towards the end of the campaign at the public meeting at Lal Bahadur stadium on November 28.
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On the other hand, the BJP was the most sought after by aspiring candidates who wanted to contest but did not get tickets in their respective constituencies. Two present corporators of Mailardevpalli, the largest division in GHMC, and Vengalraonagar were given tickets by BJP as soon as they joined the party on Friday.
All other parties also resorted to wooing corporators who did not get tickets. The parties adopted wait and watch strategy hoping to rope them in time for closure of nominations.