Munugode bypoll dates announced: Months of campaigning come to a head in November

Scrutiny will be done on 15 October, and withdrawal will be allowed till 17 October.

The date of polling will be 3 November, and the counting of votes will take place on 6 November.

Political equations in Munugode

The by-election for the Munugode Assembly seat was triggered by the resignation of Congress legislator Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy. (krgreddy/Facebook)

The three principal political parties —  the TRS, the BJP, and the Congress — have been campaigning in the constituency ever since the incumbent — K Rajagopal Reddy, formerly of the Congress — resigned from both the seat and the party, and is now contesting on the BJP ticket.

The Congress is fielding Palvai Sravanthi, daughter of late Rajya Sabha member Palvai Govardhan Reddy, to capitalise on his legacy in the constituency, while the TRS is yet to finalise its candidate.

That the Munugode Assembly constituency by-election has generated a lot of heat is an understatement.

Rajagopal Reddy’s exit from the Congress, his subsequent resignation to his party, and his entry into the BJP sparked a lot of trouble in the Congress.

While the party accused him of selling himself to the BJP for contracts, he and his brother — Bhongir MP K Venkata Reddy, a Congress leader — targeted PCC president A Revanth Reddy for the rundown condition of the party in the state.

After his exit from the Congress, Rajagopal Reddy has been campaigning in the constituency, trying to wean away the Congress workers who were loyal to him when he was in the party.

Though reports said many of them decided to remain with the Congress, Rajagopal Reddy and his brother Venkata Reddy have been trying to reach out to them with a request to support the BJP.

The Congress’ official candidate Sravanthi has also been trying to connect with the voters, who are basically in favour of the Congress because of her late father, who was a five-time MLA from the constituency.

TRS tackles tough task

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao addresses the people in a meeting in Munugode on 20 August. KCR is expected to launch a national party on Vijayadashami (Twitter/@trspartyonline)

Meanwhile, the TRS has turned very aggressive in the constituency, trying to reach out to the people by organising community-wise meetings and explaining to them what benefits would accrue to them if they stayed with the TRS.

The responsibility of steering the party to victory has been entrusted to Energy Minister G Jagadeeswara Reddy.

Though there is no official announcement yet as to who would be the TRS candidate, it is said that Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy, who contested unsuccessfully against Rajagopal Reddy in 2018, would be the party’s choice this time as well.

Though there are rumblings in the party over his possible nomination, they have not spilled out as the official announcement is yet to come.

The TRS has taken the by-election very seriously, as it would set the tone for the Assembly elections. After the TRS lost two Assembly seats — Dubbaka and Huzurabad — K Chandrashekar Rao does not want an encore.

He wants to show that the party remains invincible and to send out a message that it would romp home in the next elections.

Not one to leave anything to chance, KCR has roped in the Communists — both the CPI and the CPI(M) — as they have a considerable presence in the constituency. In fact, Munugode was a stronghold for the Communists before the Congress snatched the seat from them.

The TRS hopes to pull off a victory in Mungode as the modern pied piper of Telangana, KCR, could charm the voters into supporting the party singlehandedly.

The party is already buoyant, with KCR making preparations for launching a national party, and it might help in the consolidation of the voters in favour of the TRS.

He has already announced that the TRS, in its new avatar of the national party, would fight the by-election in Munugode. Added to this, the welfare schemes might be able to keep the party ahead of others.

The ground reality

In an effort to get a better feel of the ground reality, earlier this month South First tried to gauge the pulse of the people in the constituency.

For one, the people there seemed to be angry at the ruling class, irrespective of their political affiliations.

Interestingly, even as the TRS was making all efforts to wrest the seat by concentrating on several issues, one specific issue — the Charlagudem project compensation packages — could prove to be a major factor.

Meanwhile, it may not be smooth sailing for the Congress or the BJP either. The Congress may have lost its sitting MLA to the BJP, but the saffron party seemed to be facing some strong headwinds in the constituency.