NAGARKURNOOL: After the recent Assembly elections, Kollapur has become one of the topics of discussion among the political pundits, primarily because it is the only constituency in the district where the people had rejected the TRS candidate, instead preferred a Congress contestant — in a shocking verdict that saw Beeram Harshavardhan Reddy defeating five-time MLA Jupally Krishna Rao, who also served as a minister in TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao’s Cabinet.
As the Lok Sabha elections approach, this Assembly constituency is once again in the news as there is a speculation that Harshavardhan may join the ruling TRS. Reddy, who denied Jupally Krishna Rao a double Hatrick, was reportedly invited by Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao and other ministers for a meeting.
This has apparently prompted him to hold a meeting with his supporters and Congress party leaders, which in turn resulted in Jupally Krishna Rao to rush to Hyderabad and hold a meeting with top leaders of the ruling party. During the meeting, Jupally is reportedly discussed with the leaders about his political future. Meanwhile, when contacted by Express, Harshavardhan said that he has not taken any decision on joining TRS and wondered why the people are talking and writing about him moving to the pink party.
At the same time, he has confirmed that the TRS leaders had invited him to join their party.
“I will take any decision only after speaking to the party leaders in the constituency and my supporters,” he said.
The Kollapur Assembly constituency was formed in the year 1952. In the very first elections, the voters of the constituency voted for PDF candidate Anantha Ramachandra Reddy by rejecting the ruling Congress party candidate. In the 1957 elections, the relative of the then Chief Minister Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, Mandugula Narsing Rao won from the constituency. Rao went on to become State Cabinet minister later. In 1962, K Ranga Das won from the seat and in the 1967 elections, Independent candidate Veldoor Narsimha Reddy won the elections.
In the 1972 elections, Independent candidate K Ranga Das won from the seat. In 1978, 1984 and 1985 elections, the voters of the constituency elected opposition party leader Kotha Venkateswara Rao from the seat by rejecting the ruling Congress party candidates.
In the 1989 and 1994 elections, Congress party’s K Ramachandra Rao and TDP’s Katikeneni Madhusudhan Rao won from the seat. From the year 1999, Jupally Krishna Rao has retained the seat in five consecutive elections until his defeat by Harshavardhan. For the record, Jupally won on Congress ticket in 1999 and 2009 elections. He also won from the seat as an Independent candidate in 2004. In 2012, he resigned from the Congress party and once again won from the seat as a TRS candidate.