KHAMMAM: With Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS) leader Manda Krishna Madiga, announcing that the MRPS would take to the hustings to press for their long-pending demand for categorisation of SCs, political equations in Madhira constituency have started changing.
Manda Krishna had, in fact, earlier contested the Madhira Assembly segment in Khammam district where he was trounced by erstwhile CPM leader Katta Venkata Narsaiah. Madhira constituency has the greatest number of Madiga votes for any Assembly constituency in the State. This time round he can expect the support of the Left.
But there could be a hitch — CPM cadres in the constituency who had always rallied behind Katta Venkata Narsiah in the past might start working covertly — or even openly — for the Congress.
Another worry is that Manda Krishna polled only 25,600 of the 35,000 Madiga votes in the constituency in the last election. And the constituency has a sizeable Kamma vote-bank of about 28,220 which has delivered the bulk of its votes to Katta Venkata Narsaiah in the past. A good many of these votes, and of the 12,159 Reddy votes, might well go against Manda Krishna given his anti-upper caste rhetoric. And then there are the 18,536 Mala votes. Therefore, Manda Krishna might do well to consider some other constituency in Khammam or elsewhere in Telangana.