Hyderabad: Candidates from the ruling and Opposition parties, who contested in Urban Local Bodies elections in the Medchal-Malkajgiri and Ranga Reddy districts, spent huge amounts during electioneering.
The newly created Mun-icipal Corporations of Badangpet, Meerpet and Bandlaguda Jagir of Ranga Reddy district and new Corporations of Bod-uppal, Peerzadiguda Jaw-aharnagar and Nizampet are considered real estate hot beds and the candidates here had to splurge more than what an Assembly aspirant spent in 2018.
Candidates with real estate business contested in many of the divisions in these Corporations. It is reported that almost all leading parties, TRS, Congress and BJP pu-mped in unprecedented amounts for a local body election.
Now, it is almost known that candidates shelled down between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 50 lakh to get tickets from their respective parties and then spent heavily to woo voters.
Apart from the corporations, municipalities which are under the Hyderabad Metropolitan Authority limits, including Peddamberpet, Ibrahimpatnam, Jalpally, Shadnagar, Turkayamjal, Shamshabad, Manikonda, Narsingi, Adibatla, Shankerpally, Thukkuguda Medchal, Dammaiguda, Nagaram, Pocharam, Ghatkesar, Gundla Pochampally, Thumkunta, Kompally and Dundigal also had valuable real estate lands. Here also realtors have swung into the elections so that they could have a grip over the area and expand their business interests.
Political circles believe that candidates for municipal wards spent Rs 1 to 2 crore whereas division candidates spent up to Rs 4 crore. Candidates in Boll-aram, Tellapur and Ameenpur of Sanga-reddy district have reportedly spent up to Rs 2 crore as those towns also have valuable lands. A candidate in Bandlaguda Jagir is said to have distributed 5 grams gold coin to voters and another one in Choutuppal Municipality allegedly bought six votes of a family for Rs 2 lakh!
Meanwhile, in an interesting development, one candidate has allegedly issued a post-dated cheque for Rs 2 lakh to a colony welfare association in Peerzadiguda urging them to draw the amount after his victory.
A candidate in Kompally apparently supplied Rs 4, 000 worth of scotch bottles to each voter.
