Poll campaigns become dirtier

By J.R.PRASAD

Hyderabad, March 23: With the election dates nearing, politicians in the state are busy digging up murky details of the personal lives of rivals.

Though the Election Commission is against it, tarnishing the rival’s character has become the name of the game.
A classic example is the campaign being waged by the Telugu Desam leadership against the ‘ill-gotten wealth’ of Mr Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, son of the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy.
From the TD chief, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, to his senior companions such as Mr K.Yerrannaidu and Mr N. Janardhan Reddy, all leaders are taking pot-shots at Mr Jagan.
In fact, they have found out that targeting Mr Jagan is the easiest way to nag Dr Reddy.
Mr Janardhan Reddy defended this style of campaign by saying that it was an attempt to expose the deep-rooted corruption in the government.
Similarly, NTR’s son and film star, Mr Balakrishna, created furore by slapping his thigh and twirling his moustache in front of the house of his sister and Union Minister, Ms Purandhareswari, during a road show.
Provoked by the act, his brother-in-law, Mr Daggubati Venkateswara
Rao, lashed out at NTR’s son by disclosing details about the goings-on during the family coup led by Mr Naidu in 1994 to dethrone NTR.
The TD leader, Ms Nannapaneni Rajakumari, then said that if Mr Venkateswara Rao’s past was disclosed, he would not be able to show his face in public. The Congress leaders have also started personal attacks on the TD’s star campaigner, Junior NTR, asking him why was his mother not invited for the marriage of Mr Naidu’s son, Mr Lokesh. They also asked him to step up pressure on his father Harikrishna to accept his mother as his “legal wife”.