The TRS wants to keep the opponents in Nagarjunasagar guessing and delay the candidate’s name till the last minute as a part of its strategy to take on the Congress that is heavily dependent on Mr. K. Jana Reddy’s image, and the BJP that is confident of improving its vote share quite considerably.
Sources said that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is in no hurry to announce the name and it would be revealed only after the Holi celebrations. Though there are quite a few names surfacing, Nomula Bhagat, son of late Nomula Naarsimhaiah has better chances as of now.
It is also said that the TRS wants to wait till the BJP announces its candidate and then move with its strategy to dilute the BJP’s chances of getting a respectable number of votes. It doesn’t want to give any scope for poaching from the TRS and also implement its plans of wooing the BJP supporters to its fold based on its candidate. The caste considerations of the BJP candidate will be the deciding factor as well.
Interestingly, the BJP has also adopted the wait and watch policy and sources in the BJP said candidates from both Reddy and Yadava castes are being considered but the final selection will depend on TRS candidate. It is also raking up the local sentiment to creative negativity around Mr. Bhagat, if he is the TRS candidate, who hails from the Nakirekal constituency.
Meanwhile, the TRS party leaders including MLAs have been put on the job of targeting Congress and BJP leaders of some influence and inviting them to the TRS fold. An MLA from Nizamabad district, who is made incharge of a mandal, was recently cornered by villagers when he came with an offer for a Congress leader considered a close follower of Mr K. Jana Reddy. Yet, a senior leader working in the constituency said joining of some well-known leaders from the opposition parties is expected in a couple of days.
The ruling party has identified that more than 1.30 lakh people are beneficiaries of government schemes like sheep distribution, pensions, Rythu Bandhu, and Kalyana Lakshmi and they are influenced to vote for the ruling party or they may face issues with the benefits in future.
Buoyed by the success in the MLC elections, where an incharge was appointed for every 50 voters, the party wants to use the same strategy. Given its financial reach and the ‘helpful’ administration, TRS is leaving no stone unturned.
