EC blows Huzurabad bypoll bugle

Hyderabad: Political heat is set to rise in Telangana as the countdown for the Huzurabad bypoll has begun with the Election Commission (EC) sounding the poll bugle.

Polling will be held on October 30 and the counting would take place on November 2. Notification for the byelection would be issued on October 1 and the last date to file nominations is October 8. Scrutiny of the nominations will be done on October 11 and the last date for withdrawals is October 13. EVMs (electronic voting machines) and VVPATS would be used in the byelection, according to the EC.

Following this, TRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who returned from Delhi on Tuesday evening, held a meeting with some selected leaders and discussed the strategy to be adopted in the byelection.

Party leaders said KCR is planning to address a public meeting in Huzurabad during the third week of October. The party is heavily banking on the recently launched Dalit Bandhu scheme and other welfare programmes.

Since TRS has taken it as a prestige issue and wants to prove that it is the party that matters not the candidate, TRS was already busy poaching close aides of the former minister and BJP candidate Eatala Rajender. State Finance Minister T Harish Rao has been camping in the constituency for the past one month.

The BJP too had taken up intensive campaign and now that the dates have been announced, they too are working on the final strategy to defeat the TRS. All senior leaders of the BJP at national and State levels, including some Union Ministers, are likely to take part in the campaign. BJP State president Bandi Sanjay will end his padayatra in the bypoll-bound constituency and conduct a visit to all villages. On the other hand, the Telangana Congress is still struggling to finalise the name of its candidate. Senior leader from Warangal district Konda Surekha is likely to be the Congress candidate as the party leadership wants to field a woman leader who is considered as the strong one. A decision to this effect would be taken in a week.