Telangana civic polls: Congress, BJP fight for main opposition party tag

HYDERABAD: Much is at stake for Congress and BJP as the poll results on January 25 will decide the fate of these parties on their claim of being the main opposition party to take on TRS. Congress and BJP have already conceded 80 wards, including 77 to TRS and three to AIMIM, without a contest.
BJP entered the fray in 2,313 wards, while Congress in 2,616 wards. Both the parties conceded defeat to TRS in the first round itself by failing to field candidates in over 30% wards of the total wards.As many as 739 wards went to polls without a BJP candidate, while 436 wards had no Congress candidate. With options running out, BJP and Congress leaders blamed the TRS government of ‘managing’ the State Election Commission and giving little time for the opposition parties to finalise the candidates.
Telangana Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy exuded confidence of winning a good number of municipalities and municipal corporations and his BJP counterpart K Laxman was equally exuberant, claiming that Wednesday’s polls would prove beyond doubt that his party is the only alternative to the ruling TRS.
Both BJP and Congress members blamed TRS for rampant distribution of money, liquor and gifts to lure the voters. “A free and fair election would see an outright Congress victory,” claimed Uttam.