Nagarjun Sagar By-Election: Jana Reddy Casts His Vote

Congress candidate Jana Reddy along with his family members cast their vote at a polling station in Nagarjuna Sagar Hill Colony. Nagarjuna Sagar constituency by-election polling is going on peacefully and there are no hassles reported till now.

All eyes are on the Nagarjuna Sagar by-election across the state. This is because victory in Sagar is crucial for the three major parties competing here. It is in this context that the by-election result is expected to affect the future politics of the state and the winner will be the game-changer. If the ruling TRS wins, the party will get a new impetus. They say that they will prove that they are the champions of Telangana. If Jana Reddy wins, the hopes of the Congress party, which has become almost dull with poor performance in the recent elections, are likely to be alive till 2023.

BJP, on the other hand, wants to prove that the GHMC election results are not a windfall. They say the BJP has to win here. In this context, all arrangements for by-election polling have been completed. There are 2.20 lakh voters in the constituency. Polling will be held on Saturday from 7 am to 7 pm. Despite a total of 41 candidates in the fray, the main parties, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Congress and the BJP, will be in the top three.

The negative result in the Dubaka by-election might gave a shock to TRS but the Legislative Council graduate election results gave new impetus to the TRS, which was somewhat dissatisfied with the GHMC results. In two constituencies, Nallagonda-Khammam-Warangal retained its sitting seat while the BJP won another seat. By retaining their sitting seat Nagarjuna Sagar now, TRS is determined to prove that the negative result came with their own forgetfulness and that they are the final champions in any election held in Telangana.

Nomula Narsimhaiya's sympathy with his son in the ring, on the other hand, the development is confident of leading the way to victory. While criticizing that no development has taken place during the reign of Jana Reddy, the ruling party has taken to the people the development work done and undertaken within two years of the constituency coming into their hands. The party chief, Chief Minister KCR, gave assurances during the two-day visit that development work would be carried out in the constituency if the party was made to win. By winning this election, the TRS is hoping for multiple benefits, such as proving that Congress has done its job and shutting down the BJP, which is emerging as a new force.

Life and death issue for Congress!

For the Telangana Congress, victory in this election is seen as a matter of life and death. In the by-elections of 2018, the party was limited to just three seats out of the twelve assembly seats in the joint Nalgonda district. Despite winning two MP seats in the Lok Sabha elections held a few years back, Huzurnagar was overturned in the subsequent by-elections. Congress did poorly in the recent state elections. Dubbaka was limited to third place in last year's by-election. In GHMC elections too party failed to achieve satisfactory results in that immediate election.

Before the release of the Nagarjuna Sagar election schedule, two Assembly constituencies were badly damaged in the by-elections. Chinnareddy, a former minister in Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar, and Ramu Naik in Nallagonda-Khammam-Warangal failed to exert minimal influence. In order to give new impetus and confidence to the Congress cadre, which has slipped into disarray with a series of defeats like this, Sagar is of the view that the Congress must win the by-elections.

However, the personal image of Jana Reddy, who has won the constituency seven times and also served as a minister for fourteen years, is said to be in favour of the party. Jana Reddy personally also claims that victory here is inevitable. It is for this reason that Jana Reddy campaigned extensively in this election, contrary to the past style and requested votes, describing the progress he had made for the constituency over the years.

Will the BJP experiment work?

On the other hand, the BJP, which wants to strengthen in the state, will the experiment here work? The BJP has strategically fielded Dr Ravikumar Nayak, an EST member, in Nagarjuna Sagar, the General's seat. However, the by-election schedule could not continue until the announcement of the swing candidate before its release. Kadari Anjayya Yadav's joining TRS is likely to have some impact.