Lok Sabha elections: Congress cadre left to slog alone in Warangal, Mahabubabad?
WARANGAL: The clock is ticking. There are just 48 hours left for campaigning to end, and the Congress candidates of Warangal and Mahabubabad Parliamentary constituencies are rather distressed. So far, neither have a single senior leader from the Centre or the State visited their constituency, nor are they getting enough support from the local leaders. Fortunately, there are a select number of followers who have been campaigning along with them.
The situation is especially bad for Warangal candidate D Sambaiah. Out of the seven Assembly segments under the Warangal Lok Sabha constituency, six are being represented by the TRS. Depending entirely on the local leaders for campaigning, he has been struggling to cover all the Assembly segments alone. Now, with just two days left for the campaigning to end, he is yet to visit all the segments. On the other hand, the TRS MLAs campaign for party nominee Pasunuri Dayakar continues in full swing. Sambaiah fears that if he is not able to reach out to the people, they might not vote for him. On the other hand, Mahabubabad candidate P Balram Naik is facing a different problem.
Though five of the seven Assembly segments in his constituency is being represented by Congress, two of them -- Pinapaka MLA Rega Kanta Rao and Yellandu MLA Banoth Haripriya Naik -- had switched over to the pink party. The remaining three MLAs as well do not seem interested in campaigning for him. He is also unhappy with Leader of the Opposition and Madhira MLA Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, as he had not even come once to his constituency or deputed any senior leader to campaign for him.
Balram Naik, who was sure of his victory after filing nomination, is disappointed as he had to slog alone. Mahabubabad is traditionally a Congress bastion and the Assembly results had been a relief to the party in the region.