Warangal: Ministers have a huge task at hand

Warangal: Summer starting to peak, so was the election heat. As the March 14 polling to the Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda Graduates constituency inches closer, it appears like an onerous task for the leaders of various parties, who were crisscrossing the region to woo the voters. Compared to others, the voter management is altogether a different kettle of fish for the poll in-charges in the Graduates Council election.

As far as the ruling TRS is concerned, apparently, the onus is on four Ministers – Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Satyavathi Rathod, Puvvada Ajay Kumar and G Jagadish Reddy – and legislators belonging to the erstwhile Warangal, Khammam and Nalgonda districts as was specified by the TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao.

Buoyant after its stupendous performance in Dubbaka Assembly by-poll and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections, the BJP is raring to go to the polls to continue its momentum in the Grads Council and soon-to-be announced Greater election to the Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC).

Against this backdrop, Errabelli and Rathod, who together looking after the erstwhile Warangal, were leaving no stone unturned to ensure the victory of Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, who is seeking re-election.

Up against the likes of Prof Kodandaram (Telangana Jana Samithi), Gujjala Premender Reddy (BJP), S Ramulu Naik (Congress), Rani Rudrama (Yuva Telangana), Jaya Saradhi Reddy (Left) and Teenmar Mallanna (Independent), the TRS appears to be cautious even though it has a sway over Warangal, Khammam and Nalgonda districts. In all, there are 71 candidates in the fray for the Grads Council seat.

While the TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy was spearheading the Congress' campaign, the BJP has all former MLAs and MPs, who joined the party in the last couple of years. Among them are - AP Jithender Reddy, Revuri Prakash Reddy, Kondeti Sridhar etc in addition to its long time partymen Martineni Dharma Rao, Vannala Sriramulu, T Rajeshwar Rao and others.

In fact, the TRS people's representatives especially Errabelli and Rathod have been restless for the last one month focusing on election preparatory meetings besides gearing up their cadres strategically. "It's no easy task to focus on graduates individually. Especially, when there was a huge discontent among the youth due to unemployment. However, it's inevitable for the leaders to appease the grads," a senior TRS leader told The Hans India, on condition of anonymity.

All the four ministers Errabelli, Rathod, Puvvada and Jagadish Reddy have their task cut out even after the Grads Council polls. While Errabelli and Rathod will have to focus on GWMC elections, Puvvada has Khammam Municipal Corporation (KMC) waiting for him. Jagadish Reddy will be looking after the Nagarjuna Sagar by-poll.