Nizamabad, July 24: On the Devanagari Express to Nizamabad, the talk turns to Telangana before long. Passengers say their thing on the candidates in the byelection, and conclude with the observation that while the TRS is not exactly a godsend, Telangana deserved better in terms of development.
And only a separate state would do justice to the people.
That said, it would follow that this election is a cakewalk for Y Lakshminarayana, who gave up his seat in the Assembly in keeping with the flareup of the Sentiment early this year.
But the situation in town is a bit more complex. For one thing, Lakshminarayana is not a TRS candidate; he’s a BJP man supported by the TRS, the Telangana Joint Action Committee and a phalanx of pro-Telangana students and advocates from Kakatiya and Osmania Universities. For another, he’s up against PCC chief D Srinivas, a formidable opponent in his home turf. Out in the town, at gathering points in the inner streets, the talk is about the bypoll. There are signs that the campaigning has been vigorous, and the contest tough.
Srinivas’s exertions are particulary evident. People here say the poll veteran has never campaigned this hard in any of his previous contests — never spending more than three days on his own election — but this time he’s leaving nothing to chance.
He’s also rectifying the mistakes that cost him dearly in the 2009 election, in which he was upset by an unknown against all expectations.
His son, D Sanjay, the unpopular mayor of Nizamabad, is conspicuous by his absence this time. Instead, the PCC chief has drafted his younger son, D Arvind, for the campaign.
Srinivas also has changed his stump tactics: where he used to address only the larger gatherings, he is now doing walkabouts and speaking to crowds of 50-200 in the municipal wards. Being PCC chief, he’s getting the support of his party’s local stars, Madhu Goud Yashki and K R Suresh Reddy among them.
As he speaks, strategically placed followers strike up slogans that here be the future CM. DS is pleased, and smiles, but remains silent. But it’s clear he fancies himself in the role, for he frequently promises to make Nizamabad a pampered borough, just like Kadapa was under the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. The undertone running through his camp’s spiel is that it would be pointless not to vote for a man who might well be the chief minister in the near months, and good things might come to the constituency should that happen.
But this election is about Telangana, here as much as anywhere else in this bypollscape. So DS thumps the lectern hard when he claims to have been the first leader, not the wily fox KCR, to raise his voice for Telangana.
DS is everywhere in Nizamabad Urban. A video film asserting his T credentials is screened in all the movie theatres and CDs of it are being distributed free.
The BJP man’s style is that of a door-to-door salesman. He does walkabouts and is received well. Moreover, he’s been at it longer, having started his reelection campaign right after he gave up his seat. The BJP big names — B Dattatreya, G Kishan Reddy, K Lakshman, Ch.Vidyasagar Rao — were all here for him. But the big name on his side is the Pink Panther himself, ever ready to regale the crowd with nonchalant Telanganaisms.
They enjoy it a lot when he says DS iga duknam bandh cheska povale. Fairer graces are provided by Vijayashanthi KCR daughter Kavitha. If you’ve forgotten, there remains the TDP. Despite all the Babli exertions by Chandrababu Naidu in neighbouring Maharashtra, the party’s impact on this campaign has been minimal and even dismal.
–Agencies