KTR ups stakes in Chevella, Secunderabad & Malkajgiri

HYDERABAD: With only three days left for campaigning to end, it’s an all-out war in Secunderabad, Malkajgiri and Chevella constituencies. TRS is aiming for a sweep of 16 seats and the hard campaigning by the party leadership signifies the importance it has attached to these three key seats.
TRS working president KT Rama Rao conducted roadshows and addressed crowds every single day.

Despite party’s survey reports and polling pattern in the 2018 assembly elections giving the party a headstart, TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has directed party leaders and cadres not to take victory for granted.
In Secunderabad, BJP’s G Kishan Reddy, who was defeated in Amberpet in the assembly polls, is hoping to retain the seat, which was represented by Bandaru Dattatreya. TRS party’s Talasani Sai Kiran Yadav, son of animal husbandry minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, is as much hopeful as Congress party’s Anjan Kumar Yadav. Kishan, accompanied by Dattatreya, has been conducting roadshows while Congress’s star campaigner Vijayashanti addressed road shows for Anjan. “There is no development in Secunderabad. Both TRS and BJP have failed,” Vijayashanti says during her rallies.
Much attention is on Malkajgiri, the country’s largest Lok Sabha constituency with 33 lakh voters. In the 2014 elections, Ch Malla Reddy had won on a TDP ticket and later switched sides to TRS. This time, his son-in-law Marri Rajasekhar Reddy is in the fray. “Do not be swayed by your emotions when you vote,” KTR told voters during roadshows. It’s an appeal to those who voted for TDP in the 2014 elections. And in all the meetings, KTR is targeting Congress candidate A Revanth Reddy. “How can a coin that is invalid in Kodangal be valid in Malkajgiri?” he asks voters, taking potshots at Revanth’s defeat in Kodangal. Congress has fielded Revanth from Malkajgiri.
Revanth has also got into issues with police who questioned him about permission for his roadshow. “How can you question me when I have already got permission,” Revanth argued with cops during a roadshow.
There is much attention on Chevella where Congress party’s Konda Vishweshwar Reddy is seeking a re-election. In 2014, Vishweshwar won on a TRS ticket but joined Congress. Pitted against him is TRS candidate G Ranjith Reddy, who is making his electoral debut. Winning the seat is prestigious for both Vishweshwar and TRS. “I will be at your service all the time. I am only a call away,” is the promise that Ranjith makes to voters.