Hyderabad, Dec 4 (UNI) With just a day left before the high-voltage campaign for the Telangana Assembly ended, political parties were going all-out to woo voters.
Indian National Congress party will field its president Rahul Gandhi while the Bharatiya Janata Party has deputed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for December 5, the last day of campaign in the southern state.
Led by caretaker Chief Minister and party president K Chandrasekhar Rao, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi, is seeking a second term in power.
Telangana is going to the polls on December 7 and the campaign will be end on December 5 leaving a period of 48 hours commencing from 1800 hours before the polls.
D-day nears
Mr Gandhi will reach Wednesday noon to campaign for Padmavathi Reddy, wife of Telangana Congress state chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, in Kodad constituency, in Suryapett district.
After the campaign, the Congress chief will proceed to Hyderabad, where he would address a news conference along with leaders of Telugu Desam Party, Telangana Jana Samithi and Communist Party of India.
Mr Chandrababu Naidu, president of the TDP, which is contesting in 13 seats, may also join with Mr Gandhi at the briefing, party sources said.
Mr Naidu had campaigned extensively in the greater Hyderabad region, where in 24 seats Andhra ‘settlers’ have a great influence, and other places in four days.
BJP has deputed Mr Adityanath for the last day of the campaign, despite his home state in a turmoil after the murder of a police inspector by a mob, and he will address public meetings in Karimnagar, bhupalpally and Nirmal districts.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was in the state for couple of days and addressed several campaign, where he sparked off controversy with his aggressive remarks like renaming Hyderabd’s name to Bhagyanagar, if the BJP tasted success at the hustings.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Ministers including Smriti Irani and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi among the top leaders on Tuesday campaigned for BJP candidates.
Calling the shots
KCR will end his election campaign with a public meeting in Gajwel, which is home constituency on December 5, Wednesday.
The Chief Minister had campaigned on an average in six assembly constituencies every day.
TRS with 63 seats in 2014 is facing a difficult battle this time as the opposition Congress is trying to reach power with the help of allies.
Congress has bagged 21 seats, TDP 15, All Indian Muslim-e-Muslimeen seven and the BJP five in the last poll.
While the TRS and the BJP are contesting in all 119 seats, Congress is contesting in 94, TDP 13, TJS 9 and the CPI three seats.
Flat out
The state has witnessed a all out campaign by the top leaders of the parties, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah have led the battle for BJP, Congress has been dependent on Mr Gandhi.
The Congress has started the second phase of its campaign by the public meeting by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, she visited the state first time after the bifurcation and reminded the supporters that she was the one who instrumental for the creation of new state.
Mr Modi and Mr Shah criticised TRS and the Congress heavily and alleged that both parties are appeasing minority community and ‘anti-development’ rule by KCR.
Will the Congress have any chances this time? “There is a huge swing in favour of the Congress led front. This is very visible more in rural Telangana and we were always weak in the Northern part of the state. This time we will gain considerable number of seats from there”, asserted Srinivasan Krishnan, AICC secretary-in charge of the state’s Northern part.
While the TRS is affirming that they will get 100 seats this time, party insiders are saying that the ruling dispensation is facing heat in rural areas, as the anti-incumbency is a factor.
The mandate will be announced on December 11, Tuesday.
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