HYDERABAD: As expected, the election of six TRS candidates was a foregone conclusion and they were declared elected unopposed as MLCs under the Local Authorities Constituencies. However, the elections to the six remaining vacant seats must be conducted on December 10 as a few Congress candidates, as well as Independents, have decided to remain in the fray on Friday, the last day of withdrawal of nominations.
Interestingly, the day also witnessed high drama at Adilabad Collectorate when TRS leaders reportedly exerted pressure on Independent candidate P Pushparani from the Adivasi community to withdraw her nomination.
In fact, they went to the extent of informing the Collector that Pushparani has withdrawn her candidature. However, the Collector refused to accept their version and the election officials wanted a confirmation from the candidate herself. Later in the day, Pushparani turned up at the Collectorate and informed the officials that she is still in the fray as an Independent. She and her supporters from the Adivasi community staged a protest in front of the office and were later detained by the cops. They were released afterwards.
The TRS and BJP leaders assembled at the Collectorate also locked horns with each other. Before the situation could go out of control, on-duty police intervened and dispersed the two parties. As many as 24 candidates filed nominations for Adilabad seat. However, with 22 Independents withdrawing their papers, it will be a two-way contest between Dande Vithal of TRS and Pushparani, who has the backing of tribal rights organisation, Tudum Debba.
Kavitha refutes BJP’s claim
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Nizamabad after she was declared elected unopposed, TRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha said if the Assembly elections were held now, the TRS would bag a majority of the seats. When asked about BJP leader Tarun Chugh’s comments that the TRS would receive a big shock and the BJP would come to power after the next Assembly elections, Kavitha said that both the BJP and Congress had no strength and that was the reason they stayed away from the MLC polls.
While thanking all the MLCs and MLAs for extending their support, she said that she would try to resolve the problems of elected representatives of the local bodies. CEO Shashank Goyal, meanwhile, said that District Collectors have sent reports stating that nomination papers of some Independents were torn into pieces and these reports would be forwarded to the ECI for further action.
Eatala claims TRS will lose 1 MLC seat
BJP MLA Eatala Rajender predicted that the TRS would lose one MLC seat in Karimnagar, while disclosing that he had fielded a candidate in Adilabad for the MLC elections. In a casual interaction with the media on the lines of State executive meeting being held in Hyderabad on Friday, he said that winning or losing was not important, but it was necessary to create fear in the mind of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in the current political scenario.