The stage is all set for a fierce battle of ballots between the political parties and candidates who aspire to grab power in the new State of Telangana. Going by the nominations filed, almost all 119 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha Seats in the region will witness a triangular contest between the TRS, Congress and TDP-BJP combine. However, the MIM, YSRCP, Lok Satta, CPI, CPI (M) and other groups too will try hard to get their share of power in Telangana.
Hundreds of candidates filed their nomination for Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Telangana on Wednesday, the last day of filing the papers. With most of the parties finalising their candidates till late Tuesday, a long queue of candidates was witnessed at almost all designated offices where candidates filed their nomination papers.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao, Telangana Pradesh Congress Commitee president Ponnala Lakshmaiah and Bharatiya Janata Party Telangana unit president G Kishan Reddy were among hundreds of others who filed their nominations on the last day. According to Election Commission officials, over 1100 nominations were received for Assembly elections and more than 140 nominations for Lok Sabha polls. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is April 12.
The elections to 119 assembly and 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana are scheduled April 30.
Though the region is set to get the status of separate state June 2, the Election Commission is conducting the polls in the united Andhra Pradesh. The polls for 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Seemandhra are scheduled on May 7.
Unlike previous elections, there are many rebels who might change the poll equations in the entire region. As many as 87 rebels belonging to the main four political parties – Congress, TDP, BJP and TRS – filed their nominations against the official candidates in 56 Assembly constituencies when nominations closed on Wednesday for the April 30th polling in Telangana region.
As per the records available with the Returning Officers of the 119 Assembly constituencies, the Congress achieved the record of having the maximum number of 33 rebel candidates in 15 constituencies followed by 30 rebels of TDP in 22 segments. The BJP accounted for 14 rebels in 13 constituencies, while TRS has the least number of 10 rebels who filed their papers against the official nominees in 10 constituencies.
Miryalguda, Malkajgiri and Medhcal Assembly constituencies have the maximum number of three rebels each. While the three rebels in Miryalguda belong to the Congress, the rebels in the other two constituencies of Malkajgiri and Medchal belong to Telugu Desam.
The Congress is facing the head ache of two rebel candidates in six constituencies of Huzurabad, Peddapally, Musheerabad, Korutla, Station Ghanpur and Narayanpet. Even Telugu Desam Party is bogged down by two rebels each in six constituencies of L.B. Nagar, Khairatabad, Secunderabad, Pinapaka, Nakrekal and Shadnagar.
What is intriguing is that in eight Assembly constituencies which were allotted to the BJP in the seat sharing alliance, TDP rebels filed their nominations protesting against the decision to “give away” the seats to the saffron brigade. Likewise, BJP rebels filed their nominations against the official TDP candidates in seven Assembly segments despite the fact that the constituencies were left to the TDP as per the alliance entered by the two parties.
The TRS also did not escape the rebel trouble, though the intensity of the problem was not as that of the other three parties. However one rebel TRS candidate remained in each of the 10 Assembly segments.
The political parties will launch their campaign from April 12, the last day for withdrawal of nominations. Several national leaders including AICC President Sonia Gandhi, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidiate Narendra Modi, BJP National President Rajnath Singh and other top leaders are likely to participate in the election campaign.
According to analysts, Telangana will witness one of most fierce political campaigns ever. Forming the first government of Telangana is a matter of prestige for both the TRS and Congress and therefore, both the parties will try all means to grab the voters’ attention. While the TDP is hoping to make a survival in the region with the support of the BJP, the latter is expecting to strenghthen its voters’ base in the region. Similarly, the YSRCP is participating in a symbolic contest as its candidates are not strong in most of the seats in the region, except a few Assembly segments in Hyderabad.
The Lok Satta Party is expecting major gains in the urban areas and early announcement of candidates might benefit the party in some constituencies. The MIM too is expecting to increase its tally from seven in 2009 to at least 10 this time. It fielded candidates from more than 20 Assembly and four Lok Sabha segments in Telangana. The CPI is hoping to gain from alliance with the Congress, while the CPI (M) is expecting some good results in Khammam and Nalgonda districts.
The Aam Aadmi Party might remain a non-starter in Telangana due to the delay in announcing its candidates.