Halia: TRS candidate Nomula Bhagat, the son of deceased MLA Nomula Narasimhaiah, is riding high on a sympathy wave in the Nagarjunasagar bypoll.
The overriding sympathy factor, after the untimely demise of Narasimhaiah, is working in Bhagat's favour. Chitikeshi Gangaghar, a Halia resident, says: "There is no need for Bhagat to campaign. We can understand his sense of loss due to the demise of his father. Narasimhaiah had brought several development programmes to this place in a short span. His son Bhagat maintains cordial relations with the common people and we want to give him a chance to serve as MLA."
Though Narasimhaiah worked as MLA for only two years, locals recollect his contributions to the constituency for four years from 2014 to 2018 despite his defeat in 2014 Assembly polls.
"As leader of the ruling party, he was always accessible to the public. He used to take up our issues with KCR and KTR and ensured all our problems were addressed faster. He used to bring our problems to the notice of higher officials like the collector, SP etc. We want to pay tributes to Narasimhaiah by supporting Bhagat in this bypoll," K. Vijayalaxmi, a private school teacher in Nalgonda, told this correspondent on Tuesday.
G. Aparna, a graduate, says, "I had to move to Miryalaguda to pursue graduation as there was no government degree college in our constituency. As MLA, Narasimhaiah achieved this. KCR sanctioned a degree college which will be functional in 2021-22. My brother who is completing Inter this year will not have to go to far-off places to pursue a degree course. Students and parents are thankful to Narasimhaiah for this and want to support his son Bhagat."
Locals are emotional that Narasimhaiah was elected for a five-year term until December 2023 but his sudden death led to the bypoll now and it is good to give an opportunity to his son Bhagat to complete his father's leftover tenure. "As MLA, Narasimhaiah could work only for two years. Of this, a year was gone without any work due to corona. Let his son become MLA in the bypoll and complete the pending promises his father made to the people as a ruling party MLA," one of them said.
