Nearly 800 file papers for first phase ZPTC polls

Hyderabad: Nearly 800 candidates for Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies and about 8,000 candidates for Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies have filed their papers for the first phase polls till Wednesday, the last day to file nominations. The State Election Commission officials are yet to receive the exact number of nominations filed by the candidates. They said that final figures would be announced on Thursday.

The notification for the first phase polls for the 197 ZPTC and 2,166 has been issued on April 22. The Congress, TRS and BJP candidates have filed their papers for the polls. These candidates would launch their campaign from Thursday as the filing of nominations has been completed. Along with them most of the Zilla Parishad and Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies candidates are getting ready to spend lakhs of rupees to win the elections as they consider victory as a prestigious issue.

Though the ZPTC and MPTC post was not a 'lucrative' one, the candidates are considering victory a prestigious one and ready to spend on par with their rival. Except in the reserved seats for the SC and STs, candidates in other seats are preparing bags of money to spend.

The polls for the ZPTC and MPTC would be held in three phases and the first round polls would be held on May 6. The time for receiving nominations for this round has ended on April 24. The candidates have 10 days time for the campaign. The polling for the rest of the phases would be held on May 10 and 14. In these phases also the candidates would have 10 days for the campaign.

According to leaders of various political parties, the ZPTC and MPTC candidates are ready to spend lakhs of rupees to win the elections. They would spend money on door to door campaign, to entertain the voters and to buy the votes. Each MPTC has population of about 3000 and he has to work to win over hearts of about 2000 voters.

The ZPTCs have to cover about 30,000 voters and they have to strive to get at least 15,000 votes in their favour to win the polls. The candidates have to spend at least Rs 1 lakh per day during the campaign period in their respective areas apart from the buying of votes in the last two days. A MPTC candidate has to spend Rs four to five lakhs to buy away majority of the votes.

The ZPTC candidates have to spend about Rs 20 to 30 lakhs to win majority votes apart from expenditure on each day during the campaign period. The candidates who have been hoping to get the tickets from various political parties have prepared the ground for the polls.

They have procured enough money either through their own sources or through their friends and well wishers. Some of the candidates are not averse even to borrow money to spend in the elections.

In fact the ZPTC or MPTC post is not a 'lucrative' when compared to the MLA or MLC post. The ZPTCs and the MPTCs do not have any grants to spend and the finances available with the Zilla Parishads and Mandal Parishads are very limited.

However, the leaders say, the ZPTC and MPTC candidates are not going back on spending lakhs of rupees to win the polls. Some of them have been considering these polls as the stepping stone in their political career.

-NM Sateesh