Battle on cards in Narayankhed bypoll

HYDERABAD: Opposition parties are gearing up for the Narayanakhed assembly constituency by-election with the ruling TRS turning the constituency into a battleground with an aim to wrest the seat from the Congress. While both the Congress and TRS have already started their campaigns much before the bypoll announcement, the TDP is expected to hit the ground next week.
The Congress originally hoped that all parties including the TRS would support its nominee since the bypoll is necessitated by the demise of its sitting MLA P Kishta Reddy, who passed away in August. The TRS, however, made it clear that it wants to contest the election and win the Narayankhed seat, which has been a Congress bastion for long time.
“The Congress cannot continue to harp about the so called convention. When the party did not bother to develop the constituency, which voted for it consistently, the Congress leaders have no right to seek TRS’ support,” said A Muralidhar Yadav, president of Medak district unit of TRS. Narayankhed falls in Medak district where the TRS won eight out of 10 assembly seats in the 2014 elections.
“When the other constituencies represented by the TRS are well developed, Narayankhed is lagging behind. We will win and develop the constituency on par with the other constituencies,” added Yadav.
To woo the electorate, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao rushed his ministers to Narayankhed with as many as 10 of them visiting the constituency since August. The government has also sanctioned a 50-bed hospital and released Rs 20 crore for development works in the constituency.
While Yadav said much more was in store for Narayankhed, the Congress is fuming at the TRS alleging that the ruling party was indulging in unethical politics. “Till August, Narayankhed was not important for the government. No minister bothered to visit the constituency ever since the TRS came to power in June last year. But now, it looks like the whole government has been shifted to Narayankhed,” said Telangana Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy.
Uttam Kumar has also appealed to the TRS to ensure an unopposed victory for the Congress candidate. “Leave alone supporting our candidate, the TRS even tried to poach him from the Congress,” said the TPCC president referring to the news that the TRS had offered the party ticket to Kishta Reddy’s son P Sanjeev Reddy.
Uttam Kumar, however, said the Congress had decided to field Sanjeev Reddy as its candidate, and the party campaign had already been kicked off. “I am touring the constituency and asking the people to vote for the Congress,” said Sanjeev Reddy. The AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh is slated to visit Narayankhed on October 29 following which the Congress campaign is expected to gather momentum.
The TRS has apparently zeroed in on M Bhoopal Reddy, who was runner-up in the 2014 elections.
The TDP, which had won the constituency in 1994, too has a considerable support in Narayankhed. Bhoopal Reddy’s brother M Vijaypal Reddy is the likely candidate of TDP-BJP combine. “It will be a serious contest. No one including the TRS and Congress can take it for granted. We are here to win,” said Telangana TDP president L Ramana.