WARANGAL: Telangana Rashtra Samithi candidates for the Assembly elections were of the belief that they were far ahead when it came to their campaigns, thanks to the fact that the party had announced their names much before any other party. In fact, the grand alliance, perhaps TRS’ main opposition, has not announced candidates till now. But this very desire to be the early bird is now causing them problems in erstwhile Warangal district - the party’s candidates are running out of money and energy.
TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, after keeping the entire State guessing for weeks, dissolved the State Assembly in September. On the same day, Rao also announced the candidates for 105 constituencies. No other party was ready for it and it took weeks for them to catch up to TRS. BJP, arguably a minor party in Telangana, announced its first list only a few days ago and the grand alliance parties - Congress, TDP, TJS and CPI - have still not announced their candidates.
But there seems to have been one major problem in TRS’ plan; normally a party campaigns for not more than a month, but the party now has to campaign for nearly 85 days. Such a long campaign can drain any normal person, not to mention the party’s coffers.
In Indian elections, it is an open secret that political leaders maintain a dedicated cadre whose loyalty costs quite a bit, which increases four fold during elections. A candidate also, against the law if it is unclear, food, cash, and liquor to prospective voters.
In Warangal district, it is learnt, candidates have spent anywhere near Rs 1 lakh a day. This amount doubles if a candidate uses folk artistes and dancers to perform at his/her meetings.A close aide of one TRS candidate in Warangal told Express that they were hiring fewer people for their campaigns than in September. “This long campaign has proved a bane for us. We are bleeding a lot of money everyday,” he said.
Money is not the only issue for TRS candidates. Candidates are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain ‘a tempo’ among the cadre and voters. A close aide of Warangal West candidate D Vinay Bhaskar admits that the cadre is at risk of burning out much ahead of the elections.
Shobha raises voice against KCR, accuses him of caste bias
Karimnagar: TRS’ former MLA Bodige Shobha raised her voice against party supremo K Chandrashekar Rao for denying her the Choppadandi ticket while announcing the candidates for the forthcoming polls. However, undeterred by the party’s refusal, Shobha is continuing with her campaign in her constituency. As part of her campaign, Shobha held a meeting with her followers at Chakunta village in Choppadandi on Wednesday