Huzurabad voters hold cards close

Ambala village (Kamalapur Mandal): Who will win, we ask everyone. Most voters just smile.

A frenzy of one of the longest political campaigns ever is wearing down the candidates and parties, but the people are loving the attention — of leaders, cadres, officials, the doling out of development works, subsidies — and the engaging entertainment of allegations and counters, narratives and responses, abuses and accusations.

The small quaint town of Huzurabad is being flooded with political benevolence, gifts packed as future promises and instant goodies abound, even as voters are regaling in a toujours perdrix. Barely 140 km away from the capital of Telangana, the Assembly constituency will witness the mother of all bypolls on October 30.

At the centre of this big election is Etala Rajendar, the primal issue in a constituency of over 2.25 lakh voters.

The bypoll is being fought with too much at stake to make for easy predictions.

"There was a huge wave of sympathy for Etala but as the announcement for the bypoll got delayed, it began to wane, and especially after the TRS put across its own message," said a 52-year-old voter who runs a food stall.

Led by finance minister and TRS trouble-shooter T. Harish Rao, a diligent and meticulous counter-campaign has been set in motion, with a hyper-energetic Padi Kaushik Reddy playing Man Friday. In continuity of the TRS policy of naming youth leaders to make electoral debuts in politically significant bypolls, president of the party's student wing Gellu Srinivas Yadav has been hoisted as the rival to strongman and four-time local legislator Rajendar.

But, in the constituency, it is being dubbed, at least by the BJP — which has historically been a no-show here, except for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when party state president Bandi Sanjay won the Karimnagar constituency during a euphoric Modi wave coinciding with a considerable anti-TRS mood a mere four months after an exceptional power-retaining win for the TRS in advanced Assembly elections —as an Etala-Chandrashekar Rao faceoff.

"KCR did injustice to Rajendar because he refused to compromise on self-respect," said a BJP supporter, a line the cadre repeats again and again. "He was dropped unceremoniously, false allegations were levelled and was threatened. The fight is between the money power of the TRS and the pride of Rajendar," a BJP leader said.

An old woman is waiting for his convoy to arrive for over 30 minutes, and steps in the path to ask him to stop. She, along with others, offers him a quick aarti and blessings, and contributes Rs 5,001 for his campaign fund. Rajendar, touched, offers them a namaste and promises to continue his fight for pride and self-respect of them all.

The woman reveals that they have received Dalit Bandhu books and an SMS indicating the largesse, Rs 10 lakh has landed into their accounts though there are still a few procedural steps before they can take control of it.

"It is government money, our money," she argues. People around her largely concur, though the contrarian voice of an old man, challenges her argument. "KCR has done more for us than anyone. Rajendar should not have challenged KCR," he dissents.

Development works can be witnessed everywhere, especially roads are being laid and carpeted with urgency. Streets are well lit and lamps work without fail everywhere.

There are several Muslim voters who join Rajendar "events", marches, bike rallies and walks, carrying the BJP flag and wearing T-shirts and caps featuring him. "We are voting for Rajendar, not the BJP," some say.  In other places, boisterous saffron-clad youth combine 'Jai Telangana' with 'Jai Sri Ram'.

Harish Rao meets several groups of people from different parts of the town and neighbouring villages, overseeing the joining of yet another group of people from the Congress or the BJP into the pink party.

"There is no sentiment because unlike when KCR garu resigned for Telangana — Rajendar has not resigned for the people nor for a larger cause. It is his selfish act," says Harish Rao.

He beats the sun and is working hours past midnight. "What will you gain by electing a person who, if he wins, will be part of a three-member MLA team in the Assembly? Will an opposition MLA help you get benefits or development," he asks. "If you want to compare our two parties, compare KCR's seven-year rule in Telangana and Narendra Modi's seven-year rule at the Centre."

Moving from Harish Rao's campaign trail to Rajendar's yatras, it feels like reading Mark Antony after Brutus's speech in Julius Caesar — Harish Rao is all logic, the yin, for Rajendar's all emotional appeal, the yang.

Another young leader, Dr Balmuri Venkat Narsing Rao, is making his debut, on a Congress ticket. A medical doctor, he is a non-local, a resident of Peddapalli. Like Yadav, Dr Venkat is state president of the party's student wing, the National Student Union of India. His cut-outs and campaign flags are visible, but he is not yet featured in the conversations. He was named late and filed his nomination accompanied by TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy recently but is using social media to step up his presence.

"It is going to be a three-cornered fight. The Congress has always been strong here," says a Congress supporter. But their vehicle does not beget too much attention from onlookers. "Their candidate does not even know the names of all 102 villages in our constituency," jokes a TRS supporter.

Who will win, we ask everyone we meet. Some refuse to answer, some quiz us back for our credentials.

As we head back, passing several Assembly constituencies without any bypoll, with little glitter and problems galore, we realise what people there want - just another bypoll. Rest of the democratic bonanza would follow.