Of all the seats in Telangana going for by-polls, Nagarkurnool seems to be throwing up a clear winner in Nagam Janardhan Reddy,who is contesting as an independent with the support of TRS. Nagam is getting support from all separatist outfits and organizations besides the CPI.
TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday addressed a public meeting at Bijinepalli in the constituency along with Nagam. KCR as usual made mincemeat of TDP in general and Chandrababu Naidu in particular. His strategy of accentuating the divide as Andhra vs Telangana was all the more evident in his speech, and the crowd seems to love his ‘us vs they’ theory.
The Congress Party candidate Damodar Reddy, who lost from the seat thrice to Nagam, has not been able to make much headway in the campaign due to lack of personal charisma. The TDP candidate Janardhan Reddy, owner of JC Brothers chain of showrooms, was successful in creating some enthusiasm among the party cadre, but the odds seem to have stacked against him with pro-separate state forces bent on running down TDP at every opportunity.
Most of the surveys done for the by-polls also clearly suggest that Nagam is far ahead of his rivals in Nagarkurnool, and he might end up getting more votes than anybody else including the TRS candidates. Unless the voters spring a surprise!
