Things are not rosy for the BJP and its Munugode bypoll candidate Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy ever since he went to the fold of the Saffron party. The party and Rajagopal Reddy had huge hopes on the Congress party cadre that they might walk with Reddy. But reality has hit them hard. He didn’t receive the support as expected from the Congress party cadre nor from his brother Komatireddy Venkat Reddy who is a Congress MP.
Rajagopal Reddy and the BJP are clearly on the backfoot at this moment in Munugode. Despite the TRS party wave, Reddy has somehow managed to pull a victory in 2018. But, his strength is waning with each passing day. Starting with Rajagopal Reddy’s admission of a quid pro quo deal with the BJP to their usual goof-ups in front of the media, both the Komatireddy brothers are making it difficult for themselves and earning a tag of coverts.
The fear is catching them fast. To divert from the allegation of Rs. 18,000 cr contract, the BJP is resorting to all tactics to catch people’s attention but to no avail. Recently, the BJP filed a petition in the High Court alleging discrepancies in new voter enrollment in Munugode, which is a usual process before any election.
Though recommended by the Niti Aayog, the BJP government didn’t sanction Rs.19,000 cr for the Mission Bhagiratha project which played a key role in tackling the fluoride issue in the constituency. On the other hand, they sanctioned contracts worth Rs.18,000 cr to Rajagopal Reddy.
On top of it, reactions against the central BJP’s new attempts to impose Hindi nationally are slowly growing and the issue of skyrocketing prices of daily essentials is already there. Voters in the constituency are voluntarily displaying boards on their houses that they will reject the BJP for not bothering about the plight of the poor and the middle class. While the beneficiaries of the government’s welfare schemes are coming forward in open support of the TRS candidate Koosukuntla Prabhakar Reddy, the anger against the BJP is palpable.
So far, the TRS has been successful in clearly communicating to the electorate of Munugode that this bypoll was necessitated only due to the greed of Rajagopal Reddy. And the BJP, which has a weak ground presence in the district, is finding it difficult to defend.