The much awaited bye-election schedule of the Huzurabad constituency in Telangana has been announced by the Election Commision of India (ECI) on Tuesday. The ECI said that it has decided to hold bye-elections after considering facts and circumstances for three Parliament and 30 Assembly constituencies in various states. The Huzurabad bye-election is necessitated by the resignation of ex-minister and senior TRS leader Eatala Rajender, following his ouster from the cabinet by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), amid land grabbing allegations.
As per the schedule released by the ECI, the gazette notification for the bye-poll will come on October 1, Friday. The nominations will be accepted till October 8 while the last date for withdrawal of nominations will be October 13. The constituency will go for polling on October 30 and results will be announced on November 2 following the counting. The ECI said that the election code of conduct will come into force with immediate effect in the respective districts.
The ECI said that political parties and candidates should adhere to COVID-19 safety protocol, adding that if they failed to do so during campaigns and rallies, officials should not grant further permission to carry out campaigns. Eatala Rajender will be the BJP candidate while the TRS has decided to field Gellu Srinivas Yadav, who is president of its student wing. The Congress is yet to decide on its candidate as its Assembly in-charge, Padi Kaushik Reddy, shifted loyalties to the TRS, making scathing allegations against the Congress leadership. The BSP has also not announced whether it will be participating in the bye-election.
Of late, Huzurabad has been in the news with the TRS announcing welfare schemes to the voters. Leaders of opposition parties have alleged that KCR's ‘Dalita Bandhu’ scheme, in which Rs 10 lakh will be transferred to Dalit famillies, was an elelction stunt and an abuse of power.
Meanwhile, Badvel in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh is also set to go for a bye-election along with Huzurabad. The Badvel bye-poll is necessitated following the demise of sitting MLA Dr Gunthoti Venkata Subbaiah from the ruling YSRCP.