It appears the women voters of the Munugode assembly constituency in Telangana’s Nalgonda district have come to the conclusion that the state has already become a “Bangaru Telangana.”
For, they are eagerly waiting for the political parties distribute one “tulam Bangaram” (10 grams of gold) for each family, if not for each voter, ahead of the polling.
One doesn’t know how the message has gone into the people or who spread this rumour about the political parties offering one tola of gold to each woman voter, but it has gone strongly into the people that they would definitely get one tola of gold a couple of days before the polling.
The “gold sentiment” has grown so strong that when any reporter goes to the women voters to find out their voting preferences, they are simply saying: “whoever gives one tola of gold, they will get our vote.”
Now, this has become a big embarrassment to the candidates. Though both BJP candidate Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy and TRS candidate K Prabhakar Reddy are financiall strong and are splurging money during the campaign, buying a tola of gold for each woman voter is not that easy.
It is not only a costly affair – a tola of gold now costs around Rs 52,000, but is also a risky proposition to distribute the same, as they can be easily caught.
Besides the gold distribution which is a tricky issue, the demand of other voters, too, is too expensive – as the value of each vote has shot up to around Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000, unlike in Huzurabad, where the TRS allegedly spent Rs 5,000 for each vote.
So, the Munugode by-election has become an expensive affair!
