Telangana Candidate Hands Out Slippers, Wants People To Beat Him
HYDERABAD, Nov 23: Days before assembly polls in the state, the election frenzy is sure to kick in. It is during this time that we see parties and candidates up their campaign game to get voters attention. An independent candidate in Telangana displayed a unique such strategy. He handed out slippers to voters.
Ahead of the December 7 elections in Telangana, Akula Hanumanth, an Independent candidate from Korutla constituency of Jagtial district, adapted a rare strategy to move voters. He carried out a door-to-door campaign where he handed out slippers to voters claiming that they are free to hit him with it if he does not deliver on promises if he gets elected.
The candidate also handed out his resignation letter for a future date to indicate that the people have the right to get him off power if he does not take action and work well.
In photos, a woman is seen holding a slipper in her hand, smiling at the candidate as he greets her. A man behind him is seen holding a carton full of slippers.
Campaign videos from Jatial district, over 180 kilometers from Hyderabad, shows the candidate urging people to use the slippers to hit him, in public, if he failed to keep up to his campaign promises if he is elected to power. He also claimed that this was his way of "bringing about change" in the constituency.
Akula Hanumanth is up against ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS candidate K Vidyasagar Rao who had won the Korutla seat three times consecutively.
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to visit Telangana to address her first ever rally ahead of elections in the state. A total of 1,824 candidates are to contest in 119 constituencies for the December 7 polls.
Elections to 119-member Assembly are scheduled to be held in a single phase while counting would take place on December 11.
Assembly elections were due in Telangana next year, but the Chief Minister pushed for early elections in hopes of keeping his voter base together ahead of next year's general elections. Opinion polls say his move could pay off, with his TRS emerging as the big winner, leaving both Congress and the BJP far behind.
Currently the TRS party has 63 seats in the 117-member assembly, the Congress had 22 and the BJP, 9.
Courtesy: www.ndtv.com
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TN polls: TVK pushes DMK behind with leads in 83 seats, AIADMK ahead in 54
Chennai (PTI): New entrant TVK, led by actor-politician Vijay, was leading in as many as 83 constituencies on Monday when counting of votes polled in the April 23 Assembly polls was on across Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK was leading in 58 seats while the ruling DMK was ahead in 34, EC data showed.
About two hours after the postal ballots were counted and EVMs opened for multi-round counting, Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam surged ahead of its Dravidian rivals-- the DMK and the AIADMK, with the ruling party struggling to catch up.
If the trends maintain, Vijay could as well ensure the biggest electoral upset, something in lines with the "1967,1977" wins he had referred to in his campaign speeches.
While the Dravidian stalwart CN Annadurai brought the first non-Congress government in Tamil Nadu post-independence in 1967, the charismatic MG Ramachandran (MGR) installed the maiden AIADMK government 10 years later, unseating then DMK government under M Karunanidhi. TVK was leading in most Chennai segments, all considered DMK strongholds and currently represented by the party in the 234-member House.
A poor show by DMK could belie most exit polls giving an edge to it, riding on the number of populist measures Chief Minister M K Stalin had implemented in his five year "Dravidian model," inclusive governance.
According to EC and TV reports, 15 cabinet ministers, including Stalin were trailing. His son and deputy CM Udhayanidhi was also behind in his incumbent Chepauk-Tirvuvallikeni seat, according to a number of reports.
Stalin was trailing behind TVK's VS Babu by 1234 votes in Kolathur segment. Vijay was ahead in Tiruchirappalli East by over 3,000 votes at the end of two rounds of counting, according to EC data.
BJP is trailing in 26 constituencies and it is ahead in Thali segment alone. TVK is ahead in constituencies including Ponneri, Tiruvallur, Poonamalle, and Avadi.
AIADMK is leading in segments including Katpadi, and Guidyattam and party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami is ahead in Edappadi segment by 7003 votes.
DMK was leading in segments including Vellore, Anaikattu and Rishivandiyam.
