POLLS TODAY IN RAJASTHAN, T’GANA
NEW DELHI: Rajasthan and has a habit of ousting the old and electing the new every five years. However, it’s difficult to say whether history will repeat itself and vote in the Congress or the state will make a break with the past and give the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a second successive term in power. Telangana, which also goes to polls on Friday, has a more complex polity — the incumbent Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS), the Maha Kootami led by the Congress and which includes TDP and CPI, and two other important forces, the AIMIM and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
HYDERABAD: Leaders of various political parties were on Thursday working out strategies for poll management at the booth level a day after the conclusion of the campaign for Friday’s Telangana assembly elections.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief and caretaker chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, better known as KCR, returned to his farmhouse in Erravelli to take stock of his party’s position in constituencies across the state. Rao, who concluded his electioneering with a public rally in his Gajwel constituency on Thursday, was in touch with TRS candidates to review their prospects.
“He has been giving them directions on how to impress upon the voters to vote in TRS’s favour and also bring reluctant voters to the polling booths. He asked the candidates to use all their resources in the boothlevel management,” a TRS leader said on condition of anonymity.
KCR has entrusted the lastminute poll management in Gajwel to his nephew and irrigation minister, T Harish Rao.
“Harish Rao is confident of securing over 50,000 votes’ majority for KCR in Gajwel, while he is expected to win in Siddipet with a margin of over 100,000 votes,” the TRS leader said.
Telangana Congress chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy rushed to his Huzurnagar assembly constituency in Nalgonda district after seeing off his party chief, Rahul Gandhi, to New Delhi on Thursday night.
“While he is personally monitoring the poll management in his constituency, he has been in touch with all the contestants in other constituencies to review their strategies to reach out to the electorate in the final hours before polling,” Congress media coordinator Hariprasad said.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu, whose party has allied with the Congress for the polls, returned to Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh after hectic campaigning in Telangana. He held a teleconference with his party leaders to review the lastminute poll preparedness.
Telangana TDP president L Ramana, who is not contesting the elections, was coordinating with the party’s 13 contestants from Hyderabad.
Telangana Jana Sena president M. Kodandaram and Bharatiya Janata Party state president K Laxman were also making last-minute efforts to reach out to the maximum number of voters using social media platforms and interactive voice response system besides making personal calls .
The Election Commission has banned candidates from sending bulk SMS to voters.