Andhra bypolls to set stage for Assembly elections

Hyderabad, March 28 : Bypolls to 16 Assembly seats in the state is generating a lot of heat — an indication of the things to come as Andhra Pradesh goes to polls next year. The appointment of D Srinivas — a detractor of Chief Minister Y S R Reddy — as APCC chief, the TDP leaders rubbing shoulders with the Left parties, the TRS pressurising the Congress for Telengana — all this is providing a preview of the coming political scenario. Bypolls will also be held in the four Lok Sabha seats of Adilabad, Karimangar, Warangal and Hanamkonda.

The by-election were necessitated by the resignation of TRS MLAs on March 3 and bypolls to two seats — Khairtabad and Terlum — have to be held due to the demise of the legislators P Janardhan Reddy and T Jayaprakash. The Election Commission is yet to announce the date for conducting the bypolls.

With the TDP deciding late in the day to field a candidate for Khairatabad constituency against the Congress candidate, the fight begins right at the heart of Hyderabad. P Janardhan Reddy represented Khairatabad for nearly two decades before he died on December 27. The Congress is fielding his son P Vishnu Vardhan Reddy while the TDP has decided to field former CBI director Vijay Rama Reddy. The Congress is banking on the support of the TRS to retain the seat but given the discord between the two parties over the Telengana issue, the TDP may give a good fight.

Chief Minister Y S R Reddy, who held a meeting with Telangana ministers to chalk out strategies to counter the TDP, asked all his ministers to personally take interest in the election campaigning. The Congress camp is buoyed by the appointment of Higher Education Minister D Srinivas as APCC chief. Srinivas was APCC president when the Congress swept to power in 2004 and was credited with forging the alliance with TRS. Though he was considered a Y S R Reddy loyalist, the two leaders fell out after Srinivas staked claim for chief ministership in 2004. However, with his capability to unite the party and probably gain support of the TRS, Srinivas is expected to provide the Congress the much-needed edge in the bypolls. Though Srinivas quit as minister following his appointment as APCC chief, he is yet to attend office. He is expected to chair the crucial meet on deciding candidates for the 16 constituencies. “Names of candidates will be announced only after the meeting,” an office-bearer said.

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