Major political parties in the State appear to have succeeded in tackling the problem of rebels, who could upset the chances of the official nominees, in the forthcoming elections to the Legislative Assembly.
The BRS, the Congress and the BJP leaderships have by and large ensured withdrawal of nominations by rebels, going by the final list of valid nominations released by the State election authority, the Chief Electoral Officer, on Thursday. Though there are several constituencies with more than 20 candidates in the fray, independents constitute a major chunk of them and votes cast for them could become crucial in few constituencies where close contests are expected.
As a result, the election is expected to see two-cornered contests between the BRS and the main Opposition Congress in several constituencies. While three-cornered contests are likely with the BJP joining the race in some constituencies in the GHMC limits and other urban centres where it has sizeable presence. The votes of the Left parties in the constituencies, where they did not field their nominees and the way the TDP sympathisers are likely to tilt, are also likely to have an impact on the elections.
In all, 2,290 candidates are in the fray for the 119 constituencies, around 19 candidates per constituency on an average, with 606 candidates withdrawing their papers. LB Nagar constituency in the Greater Hyderabad limits has the highest number of 48 candidates followed by Gajwel, where BRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is in the fray, reported 44. Kamareddy, the other constituency from where the BRS president is contesting, has 39 contesting candidates and Munugode where the BRS won the bypoll with the help of the Left parties, has an equal number of contestants.
Medchal, which reported 67 valid nominations, however, saw withdrawal of 45 candidates leaving 22 in the contest. Narayanpet and Banswada with seven each are the constituencies with lowest number of candidates followed by Balkonda (8) and Secunderabad Cantonment (10).
