Managing finances and logistics a big challenge

HYDERABAD: Contesting candidates are faced with the big challenge of sustaining their election campaign for nearly two months.
Political parties and aspirants were expecting that the general elections in the state would be held in the first phase, which will be held on April 19, followed by the second phase on April 26.

Inclusion of Telangana in one of these two phases would have spared the candidates from a long campaign and expenditure and other factors involved in it.
But the Election Commission poll schedule saw Telangana going to polls in the fourth phase on May 13.
Those involved in the campaigning for the candidates and aspirants said it will be a challenging task to maintain logistics, finances, among other things, especially moving in the field with the voters every day, until the curtains come down on campaigning on May 11.
However, there are some candidates who say it will be an advantage as they get time to visit every village and mandal in the parliamentary constituency. Congress candidate from Mahabubabad (ST reserved) constituency, Balram Naik, told TOI that he has started visiting villages and meeting the voters personally. “This time, the window between the announcement of the election schedule and the last date of campaigning is 58 days. In fact, I started the campaign even before the party leadership nominated me from Mahabubabad in the first list,” he said.
Substantiating his point, Naik, a former Union minister, said covering the entire parliamentary constituency in a short window period is not possible.
“Once you are in politics and nominated to contest the election, you should see this long gap as an opportunity to visit and interact with as many voters as possible. Yes, there will be challenges on financial and other fronts but one has to manage it,” he said.
The Congress party is expected to release its second list of candidates soon. The talk in political circles is that the candidates to be nominated from various seats in second and third lists would be spared from the long campaign schedule.