Telangana: Much-awaited Huzurabad Assembly by-poll to be held on October 30

The much-anticipated bye-election for the Huzurabad assembly constituency will be held on October 30, with the results expected on November 2. On Tuesday, the Election Commission of India issued a notification for byelections in several Assembly and Parliament constituencies across the country, including Huzurabad. The Election Commission (EC) announced bye-elections in three Lok Sabha constituencies and 30 Assembly constituencies throughout the country, on Tuesday. 

The bye-election was necessitated by the resignation of former Health Minister Eatala Rajender from the Assembly after he was fired from the Chief Minister's Cabinet on charges of "land grabbing." Later, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is expected to run as its candidate.

Bye-election in Telangana

The ruling TRS has named its student wing head Gellu Srinivas Yadav as its candidate, while the Congress is yet to name a candidate. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Left parties are also expected to run their candidates. With accusations and counter-accusations from both the BJP and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), the polls have already generated a lot of heat.

However, the contest is between Rajender and Chandrashekhar Rao, as it is believed that personal issues between them have resulted in the bye-elections.

The government has been on a political and administrative offensive to assure Rajender's loss at any cost. In this context, the government announced the Dalit Bandhu plan, under which every Scheduled Caste family will receive a grant of Rs. 10 lakh. Since Huzurabad has been chosen as the project's pilot site, it is clear that the government wishes to capitalise on the opposition's objections.

Huzurabad Assembly bye-elections

The campaign reached its peak well before the election dates were announced, with Rajender visiting every village in the constituency, seeking their support and conveying the impression that he was targeted for asking questions that irked the CM and his way of functioning.

To counter the high-voltage campaign, the TRS has engaged the assistance of its ever-dependable Finance Minister, T. Harish Rao, to guarantee that the ruling party wins smoothly. He has been camping in the area, having a series of talks with multiple groups and working on defections from the BJP to the TRS. 

Image: PTI