It has been more than one-and-a-half months since Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced the first list of 105 candidates.
And it is nearly two weeks since the Election Commission announced the election schedule.
Obviously, the TRS candidates have a lot of advantage over the rival parties, which are yet to decide their candidates and are struggling in seat sharing to bring about a grand alliance to counter the TRS.
The TRS candidates must have completed their first round of campaign by this time and started the second round of canvassing.
However, field reports obtained by the TRS leadership in Telangana Bhavan indicate that in many constituencies, the party candidates are yet to intensify their campaign.
Reason: they are facing stiff resistance from angry voters, who are questioning them on various issues including non-fulfilment of promises made by the government, inaccessibility of the MLAs and ministers and lack of development in their constituencies.
As a result, the electioneering of the TRS candidates is going on at a snail’s pace. Besides, in some constituencies, the sitting candidates are facing troubles from rebel candidates who are far ahead in their campaigning.
Having no other option, KCR himself has decided to set the things right for the party candidates.
He called all the 105 candidates to Hyderabad for a meeting at Telangana Bhavan on October 21, where he would explain the party’s strategy to be adopted in the upcoming elections.
He would give them tips as to how to face the angry voters, how to pacify them and win back their confidence. Besides, he would suggest new campaign ideas to the candidates.
Of course, the money management and poll management would also be part of the election strategy.
The TRS chief has already written letters to all the beneficiaries of the various schemes of his government to appease them.
He is confident that the people would vote for the TRS candidates based on his personal image and party symbol, rather than their individual performance.
