TRS moves to check cross-voting

Members of local bodies shifted to undisclosed destinations

An overwhelming majority of the elected representatives of both rural and urban local bodies belonging to the ruling TRS of the erstwhile composite Karimnagar district left for camps being organised by the party MLC election campaign managers at far-off places ahead of the December 10 biennial election to the Karimnagar Local Authorities Constituency (LAC). Many ruling party local body representatives, who constitute the voters of the election, left for camps in special buses bound for Bengaluru and other destinations in Karnataka on Saturday night, sources said. The party key functionaries made arrangements for their stay in resorts/function halls there till December 9, sources added.

The TRS has comfortable numbers to win the two MLC seats from Karimnagar LAC. An estimated 1324 voters comprising elected representatives of rural and urban local bodies, ex-officio members including MLAs are eligible to vote in MLC election.

In a sudden move, former Karimnagar mayor Sardar Ravinder Singh entered the fray as an independent candidate and announced his decision to quit the ruling party. He also claimed support of several elected representatives of local bodies, irrespective of party affiliation, to his candidature. This prompted ruling party campaign managers to shift the party’s elected representatives in an apparent attempt to prevent cross-voting.