Nizamabad constituency of Telangana will have election through ballot papers owing to the nomination of 185 candidates, out of which 170 are turmeric farmers, said Election Commission.
Kalvankuntla Kavitha is the sitting MP from Nizamabad’s Lok Sabha seat. She is the daughter of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President and Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao.
Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar told the reporters that there are 185 valid contestants for the LS seat with the withdrawing of nominations coming to an end on March 28, Thursday at 4pm.
Determined to highlight their issues over minimum support of state government on turmeric and red Jowar produce and failure of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to ensure their price, over 200 farmers filed as independent candidates from Nizamabad.
A total of 503 nominations have been accepted in Telangana. the election authorities have rejected 143 nominees out of which 14 were rejected from Nizamabad.
Apart from Kavitha, Congress candidate Madhu Yashki Goud and BJP candidate Aravind are the main contestants for the LS seat in Nizamabad.
Nearly 1000 farmers initially planned to contest the elections as independent candidates to pinnacle their issues in the elections, but after severe pressure and pulls from the ruling parties, only 178 remained in the fray.
“They refused to succumb to the pressures from the ruling party and decided to fight the elections come what may. At least with their electoral battle, they want to bring their issue to the notice of the center,” farmers’ leader K Avneesh Reddy mentioned.
On the turmeric farmer issue, previously Kavitha had shared the details of her government’s cooperation in sustainable solutions of the issue. She mentioned that the TRS government gave ₹2 lakh subsidy on boilers worth ₹4 lakh. KCR worked for the welfare of the farmers but Narendra Modi did not pay attention to it.
The Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), manufactured by Bharat Electronics Ltd and Electronics Cooperation of India Ltd, can register a maximum of 64 candidates plus one NOTA.
For the first time, electronic voting will be replaced by voting through ballot papers in Telangana on April 11. There have been questions arising if the date will be postponed as the ballot paper will take time to be introduced.
In 1996 LS elections in the Nalgonda constituency 480 candidates filed their nominations in a protest against safe drinking water for the fluoride affected villages of their district. In that case, the ECI had to conduct the elections on the ballot paper.