HYDERABAD: To retain its seat, the ruling TRS is going all out and leaving nothing to chance in the Huzurabad bypoll. Though TRS working president KT Rama Rao had termed the Huzurabad bypoll as a ‘minor’ one, the party, however, has remained dead serious about winning the voters over to its side. Like in the previous elections, the TRS is banking on welfare schemes. More than 50 per cent voters in the segment are the beneficiaries of one scheme or the other. Another 20,000 SCs are going to benefit through the Dalit Bandhu.
“TRS means nammakam (confidence). BJP means ammakam (sale). I am sure that the TRS candidate is going to win the Huzurabad bypoll,” said government Whip Balka Suman. Since Rajender resigned in June, the political atmosphere in the State has intensified, with all the parties focusing their energies on the Huzurabad segment. The TRS has appointed MLAs as mandal in-charges, while T Harish Rao is leading the campaign.
The TRS also sees winning the bypoll as a prestige issue. The State government has already released Rs 2,000 crore for the Huzurabad segment alone for the implementation of the Dalit Bandhu.
Meanwhile, Rajender, who conducted a padayatra in the segment, is banking on the support of his fellow BCs. Helping his prospects, BJP State president and MP Bandi Sanjay is also on a padayatra, whose first phase will culminate at Huzurabad on October 2, the Mahatma’s birthday. Neither the TRS nor the BJP considers Congress a force. The once-mighty party is now just a poor shadow of its past.