A bypoll usually does not generate much interest but with both assembly and general elections round the corner a win or loss at Munugode in Telangana will have far-reaching consequences on all three political parties – BJP, Congress and TRS.

The BJP, keen to project itself as the party that can take on the mighty TRS in the upcoming Assembly elections, is touting Munugode bypoll as the semifinal while the TRS which is eyeing a third term and a national role wants to win Munugode to deny that advantage to BJP prior to the Assembly elections and have an upper hand in the battle of perceptions. As a result almost the entire TRS Cabinet is on the ground at Munugode while the BJP has also unleashed its usual campaign blitzkrieg though its big guns are likely to stay away.

Advertisement

“A win for BJP, particularly in Nalgonda district where the party had little ground presence would make things a little tricky for us because they will then target the weak links in our organisation. A win for TRS in Munugode will ensure all these talks about semifinal and final are forgotten and TRS will emerge as the undisputed number one in Telangana,” said a source in the TRS. He did not add that after losing two bypolls, Dubakka and Huzurabad, the TRS is desperate to win this election. A loss in the backyard would not augur well for its national entity BRS.

A win for BJP in Munugode would boost its chances in the Assembly elections but also augment its Southern sojourn through Telangana. “Munugode bypoll is unique in this context,” said BJP spokesperson NV Subhash.

The BJP, which had minimal presence in Nalgonda, has so far played its hand well relying on its Bengal model to expand its organisation. Dissenting Congressman Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy had been negotiating with the BJP for quite some time, resigned from his MLA seat in Munugode and joined the BJP leading to the bypoll. It has also wooed former TRS MP Boora Narsaiah Goud into its fold and hopes to ensure that the Gouds, a substantial part of the population along with the Reddys would vote for it. The TRS is also keen to inflict some damage on the saffron party with a visual of a former sarpanch of Gattuppal, Namini Jagannatham who is campaigning for BJP, receiving a call for “some cooperation” from TRS working president KT Rama Rao going viral.

But the TRS and the Congress have accused the BJP candidate of imposing this unnecessary bypoll on the people of Munugode for a mining contract of Rs 18,000 crore which was secured by Rajgopal Reddy’s company and it seemed for a while they had an upper hand but Subhash dismissed the allegations saying: “The people of Munugode don’t believe these allegations. They know Rajagopal Reddy is a contractor from day one. He didn’t turn into a contractor after joining BJP. Our party does not function in this way. It was a global contract.”

However, for Telangana Congress which lost a sitting MLA, the prospects look bleak. The party chief, A Revanth Reddy, is pressing every resource so as not to lose any more ground and the TRS is banking hard that the Congress votes are not transferred to the BJP, but it is an uphill task. A win or loss at Munugode can indeed destroy dreams.