In a bid to keep its flock together ahead of elections to the Legislative Council from local bodies constituencies in three districts, the TRS is said to have decided to organise camps for Mandal and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC and ZPTC) members, corporators and councillors who constitute the electoral college.
As the polls were scheduled on May 31 for three vacancies that arose in erstwhile Nalgonda, Warangal and Ranga Reddy districts, the TRS leaders reportedly plan the camps at Nagarjunasagar project site for voters from Nalgonda, somewhere around Hyderabad for those from Warangal, and Bengaluru for Ranga Reddy district voters.
There are nearly one thousand voters in each of the three districts and the TRS is planning to shift 80% of them to the camps to ensure the victory of party candidates -- T. Chinnapa Reddy (Nalgonda), Pochampally Srinivas Reddy (Warangal) and P. Mahender Reddy (Ranga Reddy).
TRS sources said the party had thrust the responsibility of shifting the voters to camps on MLAs of various constituencies in the three districts. But, it is not easy as most of them nurse the grouse that the MLAs and Ministers did not collaborate with them in the last five years. Incidentally, the State Election Commission had given the voting right to MPTC and ZPTC members who got elected in 2014 and their term will end on July 7. There are 869 of them in Nalgonda, 714 in Warangal and 625 in Ranga Reddy.
They added that it was also embarrassing for the legislators to seek the support of grass roots level elected representatives whom they had ignored. Their request to ensure that they are elected as sarpanches recently was also reportedly not conceded since they had become ineligible to get re-elected to their present posts in view of the change in the reservation status of their constituencies. But, their voice was not heard by the MLAs or Ministers.
The party has appointed multiple Ministers to coordinate mobilisation of voters. The hurdles faced by MLAs and Ministers had become topical interest in TRS more than assessing the strength of Congress and other Opposition parties which are also contesting the MLC polls.