Poll aspirants hit the road, meet residents

Hyderabad: Though the GHMC poll dates have not yet been announced, election mood is visible with ticket aspirants already meeting residents in their respective wards and undertaking door-to-door campaigns.
With every political party getting surveys conducted to identify potential candidates, the aspirants are leaving no stone unturned to win the confidence of the leadership to get the ticket.“That is why they have started visiting the households and promising to take care of residents’ issues if they are elected,” a poll analyst said.
AK Kumar, who is involved in social media campaigns for the parties, said some candidates are doing surveys themselves on the wards and likely voting pattern. “This is to test the waters much before others could enter the race,” he said.
The recent heavy rains, floods and the havoc wreaked by them also came in handy for the aspirants to visit the houses in affected areas and assure the residents of succour once they are elected.
The aspirants are also making lists of those who can be their potential voters and asking them to enrol immediately. They are making a beeline to the wards which have slums. “Last week, at least three aspirants from two parties visited our house saying they will help us and we should cooperate with them,” SV Ramesh, a resident of Malakpet, said.
The announcement of ward-wise reservation has also led to frenzied activity. There was huge rush for tickets last time with all the parties receiving a minimum of 2,000 ticket hopefuls for 150 wards. While 50% seats are reserved for women, GHMC is making arrangements to publish the voter lists after taking into consideration of voters list till January 1 this year.