The coming municipal election is likely to see different issues dominating the urban local bodies (ULB) in the east and the west of old undivided Adilabad district.
There are four municipalities in the western parts, Adilabad in Adilabad district, Nirmal, Bhainsa and Khanapur (new) in Nirmal district, which will have elections held, while the eastern side will have elections held for Kagaznagar in Kumram Bheem Asifabad distirct and Bellampally, Mancherial (both old), Luxettipet, Chennur, Kyathanpalli and Naspur (all new) ULBs on January 22.
Advantage BJP and TRS
For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the campaign will mainly hinge on accusing the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which was in power in all the old municipalities and garner votes that got polarised due to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) protests by the minorities helped by the TRS and Congress.
“If polarisation does happen, Congress will be the biggest loser as minorities will evidently side with the ruling party while other voters are more likely to go with the BJP,” opined a crestfallen Congress leader in Adilabad. In the western ULBs, the TRS is looking to go to town with its development agenda. “The Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak schemes will bring us more votes in Adilabad, Nirmal, Bhainsa and Khanapur municipalities, which have more number of slums and a sizeable minority population,” asserted senior TRS leader B. Goverdhan Reddy, a front-runner for the post of chairman of Adilabad municipality. The issue of land grabbing by ruling party leaders could dominate the election in Bellampally and Mancherial municipalities in the eastern belt. The Kalyana Lakshmi or Shaadi Mubarak schemes are comparatively less attractive in these ULBs, according to political observers.
Miners’ swing votes
The Singareni work force holds the key to success of parties in Naspur and Kyathanpalli municipalities. There is a lot of heartburn among locals due to the alleged corrupt practices of local Singareni leaders affiliated to TRS but Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to pacify them, according to a source.
The ULBs of Chennur and Luxettipet will totally bank on town development issues. According to sources, Chennur MLA Balka Suman of the ruling party will see his party candidates through as he has initiated several works.
