With politicians campaigning in villages and addressing mass gatherings, the poll bound Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly constituency in Nalgonda is set to host a big political fight. The bye-election for the constituency was necessitated with the sudden demise of ruling TRS party's sitting MLA Nomula Narsimhaiah. Earlier, this week Election Commission of India (ECI) issued a notification to fill up the vacant seat. The polling will take place on April 17, and the last date for filing nominations is March 30.
All the main parties in Telangana are contesting to prove their strength in the hinterlands. Congress decided to field senior leader and former state Home Minister K Jana Reddy as it was his home constituency for the last three decades. In the 2018 General Elections, Jana Reddy lost to Nomula Narsimhaiah. TRS is maintaining a silence on the candidate name, and BJP is said to be screening leaders to select one who can beat the TRS and Congress.
TRS won two out of two Graduate MLC positions recently, however for the TRS, Nagarjuna Sagar election remains crucial as it was stunned by the BJP in Dubbak bye-election and in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections. From ousting the TRS from the Dubbak MLA seat, to decreasing its strength from 100 seats to 58 in the GHMC, BJP has shown its steady rise by positioning itself as the strongest alternative to the ruling party.
Congress is seeking votes in the name of Jana Reddy’s work for the constituency. TRS is banking on the welfare schemes and irrigation facilities during its tenure.
The constituency has around 2 lakh voters. The agricultural Reddys and Lambadis, the Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Castes have considerable vote share that can possibly become a deciding factor, as parties assess their possible candidates.
Dr Dasoju Sravan Kumar, Congress spokesperson, speaking to TNM said, "Their (TRS and BJP) delay in announcing the candidates itself shows that they lack the right candidates. TRS’s failures are our issues with which we are going into people."
Sravan expressed that Congress will make a comeback in the state with Jana Reddy’s win in Nagarjuna Sagar. Congress party has already kicked off its campaign officially by holding a grand public meeting in the constituency. TRS second rung leaders are camped in Nagarjuna Sagar and are holding meetings with their cadre.
TRS sources said that Nomula Bhagath Yadav, the son of the late MLA is being considered for the seat, given Narasimhaiah's work and the goodwill he earned in the past two years.
An insider from the BJP said that there are three candidates under consideration, "Of the three candidates there is one ST candidate as well. The party is taking all the equations into consideration.”