With the Election Commission of India announcing the schedule for the bye-election to Munugode assembly constituency in Telangana’s Nalgonda district, the political atmosphere is heating up in the state. The BJP has chalked out elaborate plans to ensure the party’s candidate Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy wins the battle for Munugode. The saffron party has formed 22 committees to oversee the party’s activities in the poll-bound constituency.
From the week after Dasara, leaders from the Telangana unit of the BJP plan to camp in the constituency hoping to streamline their efforts to woo the voters of Munugode. A bike rally is planned across all mandals in the constituency on October 7 and 8 wherein Rajagopal Reddy will be touring across the mandals in a bid to reach out to all voters of Munugode.
The BJP has formed 22 committees, and each committee consists of one senior leader, one co-incharge, six members and nearly 120 karyakartas to assist in the efforts. The committees include media, publicity, accommodation, transport, medical, protocol, permissions, public meetings and arrangements. The 22 committee members will be reporting to the steering committee members who will in turn report to the party’s Telangana unit chief Bandi Sanjay who is also the star campaigner of the party.
The bye-election has been necessitated by the resignation of former Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy on August 8. It has become a prestige battle for the Congress, the BJP and the ruling-TRS which has now transformed into BRS. While the Congress has named Palvai Sravanthi as the grand old party’s candidate for Munugode, the TRS is yet to announce its candidate.
Speaking to TNM, BJP spokesperson NV Subhash who is also in charge of the media committee along with MLA Raghunandan Rao, said, “The BJP is going all-out to ensure a victory in the Munugode bye-election. We have a detailed plan listed out, and the BJP leaders will camp in Munugode to ensure coordination in the efforts to reach out to the people of the constituency. While Bandi Sanjay is the star campaigner, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has promised Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy that he will campaign for him in the constituency.” Other senior leaders are also expected to campaign in the constituency.
Palvai Sravanthi and Rajagopal Reddy have been going door-to-door in Munugode to ensure a victory. In all likelihood, the TRS is going to announce Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy as its candidate. This will make the battle a war between three Reddys.
The nomination process for the bye-election will begin on Thursday and the last date for filing of nominations is October 14. Following the announcement of the schedule of the bye-election, Telangana BJP Chief Bandi Sanjay decided to postpone his fifth phase of padayatra which was scheduled to be held from October 15. He will now head to Munugode instead to work with Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy.
Sources have revealed to TNM that internal surveys of the TRS have indicated that the ruling party is only marginally ahead of the BJP in Munugode. This has made the battle even more interesting with the TRS too making elaborate plans in Munugode in order to ensure a victory. CM KCR is expected to address a public meeting in the constituency, while senior leaders have been deputed to ensure the party fares well in the bye-election. The Munugode bye-election is expected to be a high-stakes election considering it is a prelude to the assembly elections scheduled to be held next year in the state.