HYDERABAD: After a high drama, the TDP and BJP came to an understanding on seat-sharing and candidates of the two parties filed their nominations on Sunday. BJP MLC and senior leader N.Ramchander Rao says that though the huge demand for the ticket of both the parties from local leaders created a tense situation, the top leaderships of both parties have come to an understanding and decided to put up a united fight. Accusing the TRS of poaching, Ramchander Rao tells J Deepthi Nandan Reddy in an interview that the TDP-BJP combine will give a shock to the ruling party in the GHMC elections. Here are excerpts from the interview:
Seat-sharing was arrived at after a tough bargain and filing of nominations too has been completed. What is your strategy now?
Yes, BJP and TDP had a tough time hammering out an agreement on seat sharing. Though the ratio of 87:63 had been agreed upon for TDP and BJP, there was disagreement over allotment of specific wards. There was huge pressure on leaderships of both parties from their respective local leaders and ticket-seekers. This led to a little confusion and tension. The intervention of Union ministers Bandaru Dattatreya and Sujana Chowdary paved the way for a pact.
How will you pacify the dissidents who did not get ticket?
There are bound to be dissidents in any political party. BJP has a strong cadre in Greater Hyderabad and the BJP-TDP combine has emerged as a strong force in the GHMC elections. Hence the huge demand for our ticket. As Sunday was the last date for filing nominations, we asked the aspirants to file nominations on the condition that they withdraw from the contest if the party does not support their candidacy. In any election we cannot accommodate all aspirants. We will ensure that those denied ticket will not get dejected and will take them along with us. There is a talk that opposition parties are not giving ‘B’ Forms to their candidates till the last date for withdrawal, fearing that TRS may poach them and try for unanimous election in some wards. Yes, it is true. It has become a challenge for us to protect our candidates from poaching by the ruling party. TRS is resorting to all sorts of unfair means and is planning to poach our candidates even after filing nominations. As TRS does not have the strength and courage to fight the election, its wants to poach on the candidates of other parties to make the election unanimous or one-sided.
With the nominations phase over, how do you gauge the public mood?
After TDP-BJP’s public meeting at the Nizam College ground, the momentum has picked up for us. TRS had started its publicity on high pitch by putting up lakhs of flexis and conducting a series of meetings. They have blatantly violated the rules and misused administrative machinery for their campaign. But after our Nizam College ground meeting, TRS’s initial hype was neutralised. The rush for BJP-TDP ticket proves how strong we are placed in Greater Hyderabad. While we are finding it difficult to accommodate all aspirants, TRS is poaching candidates of other parties in order to field them. Their top leaders are merely issuing statements and garnering publicity while, at the ground level, no voter is getting attracted to that party. Original TRS supporters, who have been with the party in difficult times, are severely disappointed as many ‘migrants’ from other parties have been given the party ticket. Considering all these developments, I feel that the TDP-BJP combine is poised to give a shock to TRS at the hustings.
How many wards do you expect to win?
Barring the wards in the old city, there are 105 wards in Ranga Reddy urban areas and central Hyderabad. The BJP and TDP have strong presence in these areas. I am confident of winning more than 75 wards in Hyderabad peripheral areas and central, and attain a comfortable majority.