Hyderabad: With the deadline for filing of nominations having ended, candidates from all major parties are now busy trying to woo rebel and Independent candidates to withdraw from the fray.
The major parties are yet to issue B-forms as they fear that some candidates may withdraw their nomination at the last minute after striking deals with rivals. The parties plan to issue B-forms 2-3 hours before the deadline to withdraw nomination ends on January 21.
Meanwhile, those who made it to the parties’ official lists swung into action to convince rebels to withdraw their nominations.
Candidates are openly asking the rebels to quote a price to do so. However, they are shocked to find rebels demanding anything between Rs 50,000 and a few lakhs of rupees, depending on their stature and political hold they command in the respective divisions.
Candidates say the amount they have to spend on convincing rebels would be much more than actual poll expenditure they would incur.
The fight for party tickets was so intense this time that at least six candidates from the same party filed nominations for every seat.
With no B-forms, even official candidates feel ‘insecure’ and fear the rebels may still bag the ticket by pressurising the high command and it would be better if they themselves start the exercise of convincing them to withdraw before that. However, this is proving to be tough due to the hefty demands.
“In my division, six people from our party filed nominations as rebels. Each candidate has the capacity to split at least 1,000 votes. In a ward of 30,000 voters, a split of 6,000 votes could alter the result. We are trying to convince them to withdraw, but the amount they are demanding is huge,” said a candidate for Amberpet division.
Candidates from TRS, TD and BJP are the most affected as aspirants from these parties lost the chance to contest due to TD-BJP alliance and defections into the TRS from other parties.
These candidates are facing at least a dozen rebels in each seat while the situation is far better for the Congress and the MIM.
