The Central Election Commissions announcement of the election schedule for Huzurabad has taken the ruling TRS by surprise. Significantly, the announcement came at a time when KCR is still in Delhi. KCR is currently on a tour of the national capital and has been meeting ministers and other influential leaders.

Interestingly, when the schedule for elections in all other states was announced, Huzurabad was left out. There was a general feeling that the bypoll would be held after the festive season. This made the TRS bosses to go slow on the campaigning. But on Tuesday, the notification came out of the blue and the bypoll would now be held in the gap between Dasara and Diwali. This has caught the TRS unawares.

According to the schedule announced, the polling would be held on October 30 and the counting of votes would be taken up on November 2. The whole election process would be completed by November 5. The election code has come into force immediately. However, the existing schemes would be allowed to be implemented, said the election commission.

Meanwhile, the TRS government has deployed between 100 to 150 intelligence officials to gauge the public mood. These personnel would be conducting public mood surveys on a daily basis on key issues such as welfare schemes, implementation of developmental projects, relative strengths and weaknesses of the candidates in Huzurabad. These reports would be sent to the Government on a daily basis, sources revealed.