HYDERABAD: Stung by losses in Dubbak assembly bypoll and civic polls in the city late last year, the ruling TRS is going all out to defeat the BJP in March 14 Telangana Legislative Council elections to two constituencies.
The two parties have been locked in a war of words over employment opportunities and other development issues as they are keen to win the polls to Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar and Khammam-Nalgonda-Warangal Graduates' constituencies.
BJP had won the Dubbak seat, besides making handsome gains in the elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation that witnessed a high-voltage campaign with central leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, canvassing votes.
TRS emerged as the single largest party with 55 seats, while the BJP, AIMIM and Congress secured 48, 44 and two wards respectively.
The ruling party is making a determined bid to win both the MLC seats to assert its supremacy in the state.
In a surprise move, the TRS has fielded former prime minister late P V Narasimha Rao's daughter S Vani Devi in Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar constituency to take on sitting MLC and BJP candidate N Ramachander Rao.
The TRS has nominated its sitting MLC Palla Rajeshwar Reddy in the other seat.
The Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar constituency is witnessing a keen contest as TDP's Telangana unit president L Ramana and former MLC K Nageshwar, a journalism professor and a prominent political analyst, are also in the fray.
Filling up of government jobs has been a bone of contention between the TRS and BJP and other opposition parties with the latter disputing claims of the ruling side.
TRS Working President and state IT and Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao has said the government filled 1,32,899 posts in various departments and organisations between 2014 and 2020.
He has accused the Congress and BJP of deliberately spreading false information about job recruitment in the state since the TRS came to power.
Differing with Rama Rao's statement about recruitment of 1.32 lakh people, AICC spokesperson Sravan Dasoju dared the TRS leader for an open debate on the issue.
BJP's Ramachander Rao, meanwhile, alleged that Rama Rao's statement of filling over 1,32,000 jobs was baffling.
The duo were also engaged in a verbal duel on twitter.
State BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar and Rama Rao have crossed swords over the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR), an initiative for growth of IT sector sanctioned to Telangana during the previous UPA regime.
Sanjay Kumar, in an open letter to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on March 2, alleged the TRS government adopted a non-cooperative attitude towards the implementation of the ITIR project.
Responding to it, Rama Rao on Wednesday said in a release that Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had stated in parliament that the ITIR scheme had been shelved in the country and mocked at the state BJP chief for being unaware of this fact.
Alleging that BJP has disappointed the youth of Telangana who have been waiting for ITIR to become a reality, he demanded that the party apologise to the people.