HUZURNAGAR: As the Huzurnagar byelection nears, the fact remains that the prospects of neither TDP nor BJP look good. In fact, it appears that TDP’s Chava Kiranmayi and BJP’s Kota Rama Rao are not even frontrunners in the battle anymore. However, despite the contest seeming to have narrowed down to a straight fight between Congress and TRS, their presence has still managed to create some tension for Congress’ N Padmavathi and TRS’ S Saidi Reddy.
“TDP was very strong in the Huzurnagar segment once. But after the formation of Telangana, all their voters shifted to TRS,” P Jagadish, a Congress sympathiser, said. However, one cannot dismiss the potential of Kiranmayi, who belongs to the Kamma caste. As per an unofficial estimate, the Kamma voters comprise five per cent of the segment’s total electorate.
“Some Kamma voters, who are anti-Congress, may support TRS. However, some have still not been able to digest the formation of Telangana. They may choose to give their vote to Kiranmayi,” said a farmer from Revuru village, where TDP still has a strong presence. It may be recalled that the Huzurnagar segment has close links with the neighbouring Guntur and Krishna districts of AP.
Meanwhile, Congress candidate N Padmavathi thinks that the support for TDP is likely to adversely affect the ruling TRS. “The TDP vote bank had migrated to TRS. So obviously, the presence of a TDP candidate will create a dent in the pink party’s vote bank,” Padmavathi told Express. However, several TRS leaders recalled how TDP and Congress had contested under the Maha Kutami umbrella during the 2018 elections. Hence, according to them, Kiranmayi’s presence is more likely to cause damage to the Congress candidate.
Meanwhile, there are chances that the BJP, which got around 1,500 votes in the 2018 poll, may improve its voting share this time. It is to wait and watch if this improvement for the BJP, if any, is at the cost of TRS or Congress.
Surprisingly, many SC/ST youth are talking about ‘Teenmar Mallanna’, a journalist-turned-politician, who has also tossed his hat in the ring. The votes he gets too, if any, will have an impact on the prospects of the main parties, as the bypoll was meant to be a photo-finish win for any candidate.