A tale of two Telangana villages that KT Rama Rao must read

SIRCILLA: A small tea shop has sprung up on the bustling Sircilla main road. “Business is brisk, thanks to the proximity to the main bus stand in town,” says the shop owner. A bunch of labourers seated at the tea stall recall: “A decade ago, all of these areas were agricultural land.” The changes that the town has witnessed over the last decade is dramatic.  

One of the labourer, Bhupati Rao says: “A decade ago, no one used to dare come to this side of the village in late evenings. It’s not that same Sircilla anymore. We have developed along with other towns. Who knows, maybe in another few years, we may also get underground drainage lines here,” says Bhupati Rao.  
Once you step out of the town, development is sporadic, and people’s political leanings mixed. The Sircilla Assembly constituency comprises the following  mandals: Mustabad, Thangallapalli, Gambiraopet, Yellareddypeta, Sircilla and Veernapalle. Nerella, a village in Thangallapalli mandal, hasn’t forgotten the torture that eight of their neighbours faced in the hands of police.

The 8 villagers were tortured in police custody for torching a sand-laden lorry that had run over and killed one of the villagers for trying to stop what they alleged was “sand smuggling.” Nerella people are now rooting for Congress or even BJP to rise to power in the State. K Harish, one of the villagers who was tortured, alleged that scores of people from his village did not get Aasara pension.

“Those from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribe, Backward Classes did not benefit from government schemes,” says Harish. “And those who dared to question have been threatened or silenced,” he says, showing the scars on his body, remnants of the torture he suffered. Harish, who was headed to attend Revanth Reddy’s rally, says both BJP and Congress stood by people of Nerella when they suffered last year.  

Voters at Rajannapet, a village adopted by TRS second-in-command and Sircilla candidate KT Rama Rao, say they will vote for him again. It is not just a ‘vote of thanks’ but also a bid for future development of the area. A stronghold of left parties, KTR won from the area for the first time in 2009. His opponents are equally strong. Congress contestant K Mahender Reddy lost by a mere 171 votes in 2009.

P Devaya, a resident of Rajannapet village said, “We got CC roads, overhead tank and new Gram Panchyat Bhavan after KTR adopted our Rajannapet village. But it would be helpful if road is extended from our village to Devunigutta village as people either have to take the uneven mud path or travel at least three extra kilometers.”