ADILABAD: Probably for the first time, national-level leaders of the two major parties campaigned on the same day, raising political temperature in Adilabad Lok Sabha constituency.
Both the BJP and Congress consider securing this seat as a prestige issue. As the two parties also fancy their chances of winning the segment, national leaders of are doing their best to seek support for their respective candidates.
While Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a public meeting at Kagaznagar in support of saffron party candidate Godam Nagesh, Rahul Gandhi attended a public meeting in Nirmal seeking votes for the party’s nominee Atram Suguna. The BJP reportedly selected a remote area like Kagaznagar as the venue of the public meeting as it is in proximity to three Assembly segments (Sirpur, Asifabad and Khanapur)that come under Adilabad LS constituency.
The BJP, in an attempt to ensure its victory in Adilabad, had denied the ticket to sitting MP Soyam Bapu Rao and allotted it to former MP Nagesh. Early March, ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll schedule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Adilabad and held a massive rally after launching projects worth Rs 86,000 crore, which believed to have boosted the morale of party workers.
Meanwhile, the Congress, which allotted the Adilabad ticket to newcomer and women’s rights activist Atram Sugana, picked Nirmal as the venue for Sunday’s public meeting addressed by Rahul Gandhi. The party hopes that Rahul’s meeting will strengthen its vote base in Nirmal and Mudhole, where it is not very strong.