Against the backdrop of a strong agitation for separate statehood, the ruling Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party face a tough challenge in the ensuing bypolls to 12 Assembly seats in Telangana region.
The byelection to the 12 seats, which should be held before mid-August as per norms, has been necessitated as the sitting MLAs – 10 from TRS and one each from Congress and BJP – quit their posts in support of separate Telangana demand.
The two major parties started their campaign by holding a couple of meetings at Siddipet and surrounding areas in the last couple of days. Both the parties are bent upon targeting former Telangana Rashtra Samiti ML A Harish Rao who has a considerable clout in the Siddipet constituency.
In fact, neither the Congress nor the TDP failed to give Harish Rao a befitting challenge so far. In 2004, Congress tied up with TRS while in 2009 TDP has an alliance with TRS. But this time, the two parties seemed to have realized their mistake and are targetting Harish Rao.
In the Siddipet meeting, which was held on Monday last by the Congress, Harish Rao and TRS chief KCR were singled out for their failure to achieve Telangana.
The TDP in a similar manner lashed out at Harish Rao during the Siddipet meeting. With an imminent three-cornered contest among Congress, TDP and TRS, the Congress is approaching the voters with the slogan that Telangana is possible only with the Congress.
TDP, which has a strong support base in Telangana, is approaching the voters calaiming that TRS is not sincere in its commitment to the Telangana cause.