KHAMMAM: The Maoists’ ambush killing of Araku MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former MLA Siveri Soma in a Visakhapatnam village a few days ago, have gripped the Telugu in fear. Leaders and candidates of both ruling and opposition parties in the Bhadrachalam Assembly constituency are now refraining from venturing into interior tribal areas, even for election campaigns. Given its proximity to the volatile inter-State border with Chhattisgarh, Bhadrachalam is considered one of the most densely Maoist-affected areas in Telangana.
After TRS Bhadrachalam division in-charge Mane Ramakrishna, a few other leaders were kidnapped by the Maoists and subsequently released with a warning that no leaders should approach the remote villages to cheat the tribal community after which most leaders had voluntarily stopped visiting the areas. The situation is now such that there is next to no campaigning being done in Maoist-affected regions of the constituency. T Venkata Rao is the TRS candidate for Bhadrachalam, while CPM has opted for M Babu Rao. Hitherto, Venkata Rao is the only candidate who has ventured into the border villages, urging the people to cast him their votes.