Campaigning For Municipal Elections ends: Liquor and money power start overflowing
Wooing influential communities and youth with late night parties
Now that campaigning for the February 12 municipal elections has been done and dusted on Monday, political parties have shifted gears and are wooing voters with handsome monetary sops that range from Rs 1,000 to Rs 3000 per vote apart from serving liquor. Given the high stakes involved in the elections, and potential close fights in a few areas, some contestants are organised special night parties to influential communities and youth.
Meanwhile, in view of the busy schedule, Chief minister A Revanth Reddy cancelled his visit to Madak to address a public meeting organized as part of the election campaign in the afternoon.
On their part, senior BRS leaders K T Rama Rao (KTR) and T Harish Rao addressed street-corner meetings and rallies in north Telangana districts till evening.
The big guns, including Revanth Reddy, KTR and Harish Rao were holding a series of meetings with available leaders and holding teleconferences with party cadres in the districts to ascertain the political situation and poll management on Wednesday, the polling day.
To catch up with the available trends, leaders are into analysing the survey reports and instructing their party members to take necessary steps to win the elections. Distribution of money, liquor and other gifts to voters also came up for discussions in their respective meetings.
“Arrangements for distribution of money were made in municipalities where the fight is tough between Congress, BRS and BJP nominees. In many south Telangana districts, Congress is facing challenges from BRS, while the latter is in for stern tests in its stronghold areas as the BJP and Congress are going all-out to wrest the urban local bodies from the Telangana party.
The parties have deployed teams to municipal corporations mainly in Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Nalgonda where the Congress and BRS were fighting tooth and nail. The BJP is focusing on the two big corporations where it won the Lok Sabha elections.
It is learnt that the candidates will start distribution of money from Tuesday night. Many are preparing a list of voters, who will be lured with money. Local influential persons are pumping in money to the contestants to avoid any crisis on election day.
