Covid-19 takes sheen off poll campaign

Warangal: The timing of the elections and the resurgence of Covid-19 have certainly taken sheen off the otherwise high-decibel poll campaign in Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) which goes to poll on April 30. The GWMC is seen as a high profile contest that all the three major parties – the TRS, the BJP and the Congress – want to herald their dominance.

With just four days to go for the polling, the electioneering is yet to pick up the pace that shrills the city. Despite the candidates' inclination to catch up the electorates through door-to-door campaign, the cadre appears to be skeptical with the city witnessing a spike in Covid-19 cases. Adding more misery to the candidates in the poll fray, almost all the top leaders of major parties were choosing to skip the campaign for various reasons. Of all, the TRS candidates appear to be more worried with the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and TRS working president K T Rama Rao were not in a position to campaign in Warangal due to corona. It may be mentioned here that both the leaders tested positive, a few days ago. KCR and KTR, who of late taking care of elections especially after the party's debacle in Dubbaka Assembly by-poll will not be able to take part in the electioneering and it could be a huge blow for the TRS candidates. It may be recalled here that KTR and T Harish Rao led the TRS to a huge victory in the GWMC polls in 2016.

On the other hand, the Congress is also handicapped with the absence of TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who also tested positive for Covid-19. The party circles murmur that they lacked a leader, who could energise the cadres in the elections.

"Undoubtedly, the Congress has its vote bank in Warangal; however, we failed to cash in on it in the 2016 elections. We were able to win just four Divisions that time. The top leaders in the city need to put aside their differences and work together to make any amends. Even though the likes of T Jeevan Reddy, D Sridhar Babu etc were set to hit the roads, the absence of Uttam would also hurt the party," a senior Congress leader told The Hans India, who doesn't want to be named.