Telangana: TRS, BJP activists clash in Munugode two days ahead of high-voltage bypoll

The workers of both parties attacked each other with stones and sticks. The incident took place when BJP and TRS were campaigning in Palivela and came face to face.

Munugode (Telangana):Two days ahead of the bypoll, workers of BJP and TRS clashed with each otherin Palivela area of Munugode mandal in Telangana on Tuesday, the last day of campaigning in the high-decibel elections. The workers of both parties attacked each other with stones and sticks. The incident took place when BJP and TRS were campaigning in Palivela and came face to face.

The workers engaged in fistfights and later threw stones at each other. Several vehicles suffered massive damage in the clashes. The convoy of MLA Etela Rajender, who had come to the BJP's campaign event, was also pelted with stones. The police intervened and dispersed both groups.

The clashes took place just two days before the high-voltage bypoll to Munugode Assembly constituency on November 3. The polls are expected to influence the future course of state politics in the run-up to next year's Legislative Assembly election and is crucial for all three major political parties in the state.

While the ruling TRS would seek to prove its dominance, the BJP, with a newfound energy following the recent electoral wins, is hoping for yet another upset of the regional incumbent. A win for Congress would give it the much-required boost ahead of the hustings in 2023. The TRS, recently renamed as Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), aims to demonstrate its dominance in state politics and go national with a big win here.

The message the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led party would like to send at the national level is-- it can take on the BJP and win. A loss in the bypoll would hamper not only its national plans but also embolden the opposition ahead of the Assembly polls. The BJP, meanwhile, hopes to give a push to its plans to emerge as the alternative to TRS with a victory in Munugode.