As predicted in the exit polls, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi won the by-elections to Huzurnagar assembly seat with a huge mandate, wresting it from the Congress for the first time.
In fact, the kind of victory margin secured by TRS candidate Sanampudi Saidi Reddy – 43,233 votes, over his nearest Congress rival N Padmavathi, was a surprise to all the poll pundits.
In fact, a source in the TRS said KCR had called up Saidi Reddy soon after the polling that he would be getting a majority of around 25,000 votes. It would mean even the TRS chief had not expected such a huge victory for the party in Huzurnagar.
According to reports from the ground, the TRS managed to win the seat despite the talk of anti-incumbency and the massive unrest due to RTC strike. It was essentially due to excellent micro-level poll management by the ruling party.
KCR roped in his son and working president K T Rama Rao, besides 70 leaders from all levels to do the job for Saidi Reddy. Of course, money and muscle power of TRS is much more than that of the Congress.
It is learnt Padmavathi could not find any poll managers at the last moment, as all of them were bought over by the TRS.
However, a section of analysts says the victory of the TRS in the by-election in Huzurnagar could even be a bad omen for KCR.
“Naturally, any ruling party will have advantage in the by-election because it will have control over all the powers including the police and local officials. But, at the same time, it would give a sort of overconfidence to the party that it can win any election easily,” an analyst said.
But that overconfidence might also spell doom for the TRS in general elections.
“See, what happened to Telugu Desam Party chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. His party won by-election to Nandyal assembly seat by spending huge money and misusing official machinery. He grew overconfident and bungled in the general elections,” he said.
There is only one difference. In Andhra, Naidu had a powerful leader in the opposition – Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who quickly changed his strategies and reworked on his strength to bounce back in the general elections.
“But in Telangana, the opposition is very weak and there is no leader who can match with KCR,” he pointed out.
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