The party expects the Congress to run out of steam in the event of a delayed election, setting up a direct contest with the TRS.
Published Aug 15, 2022 | 5:40 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 15, 2022 | 6:48 PM
A Congress rally in Munugode after the resignation of Rajagopal Reddy. (Revanth Reddy/Twitter)
When will the Munugode by-election in Telangana be held?
The buzz in political circles in Hyderabad is that it will be held by December this year — along with elections in Himachal Pradesh, where the current legislature expires in November, and Gujarat, where it expires in December.
But South First learns that the BJP is no hurry, and may push for the by-election — necessitated by the resignation of sitting Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy — to be held as late as February next year.
As Speaker Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy accepted Reddy’s resignation immediately and notified the vacancy to the Election Commission the same day (August 8), the by-election has to be held before February 7, 2023.
And the BJP has its reasons for pushing for a delayed election.
The party wants the election to emerge as a contest not between the TRS and the Congress — which considers Munugode as its bastion — but between the TRS and the BJP. It is a narrative that the party want to build up in the run-up to the state Assembly elections that are scheduled to be held later in 2023.
BJP sources contend that Rajagopal Reddy’s considerable hold over the constituency, coupled with the BJP’s famed election-fighting machinery, gives it a shot at providing a challenge to the TRS.
The by-election for the Munugode Assembly seat was triggered by the resignation of Congress legislator Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy. (krgreddy/Facebook)
But for that to happen, it needs to weaken the Congress.
The grand old party has been in election mode since Rajagopal Reddy submitted his resignation and has held several events in the constituency in the expectation of a November-December election.
The BJP’s assessment is that the Congress will soon lose steam as it does not have either the money power or the manpower on the ground to sustain a longer campaign.
The BJP, sources said, wants a straight fight with the TRS and not be locked in a triangular fight, which might prove beneficial to the pink party.
If the by-election is held next year, either in January or February, the saffron party hopes that its expected victory in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh would have a positive influence on the electorate of Munugode.
A string of victories — Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and the by-election in Munugode — would help the party in putting up a better show in Karnataka, where elections are due in April-May next year.
The BJP in Telangana wants to take full advantage of this period to implement its strategy to make the Congress gasp for breath.
As the party is not in power and is plagued by internecine quarrels, the Congress may not be able to sustain the tempo that it had created initially till next year, and break up under pressure.
BJP general secretary Sunil Bansal, who has been appointed as in-charge of Telangana as well as West Bengal and Oidhsa, will have enough time to study the political milieu in Munugode and draw up a poll strategy to push the Congress to the fringes and then take the TRS on.
BJP sources indicated that the party is likely to take a final decision on when it wants the elections to be held by the coming weekend.
A scheduled visit to Telangana on August 21 by Union Home Minister and BJP’s “master strategist” Amit Shah may provide an indication as to which way the party is leaning. Shah is billed to hold a public meeting in Munugode on that day.
BJP’s sources said that if a delayed election is what the party decides on, Shah is likely to postpone his visit to the state.
In such a case, Rajagopal Reddy, who was expected to don the saffron robes at the event, would join the saffron party in Delhi in the presence of the Union minister later.
