MANAKONDUR: Manakondur is one constituency where everyone seems to be having a problem.
At Turpu Darwaja, a Muslim woman, Rehana, was seen searching for a house for rent, as she is yet to get an allotment of the State government’s double-bedroom house. She is on the streets looking for a house as her present landlord asked her to vacate.
“My husband walked out on me three years ago, leaving me to fend for myself. I have three children to feed. I am yet to receive the government largesse in any form,” she said.
She has been hoping that the government would allot her a double-bedroom house or at least a loan to help her eke out a living. “I have applied for a loan of `1 lakh for a sewing machine but my request has been rejected,” said Rehana.
Manakondur is a constituency reserved for SCs. It is spread across Karimnagar and Rajanna-Sircilla districts.
The main contestants are Rasamayi Balakrishna from the BRS, Arepally Mohan from the BJP, and Kavvampalli Satyanarayana from the Congress. The constituency has several problems that have become endemic. There are no proper roads and the drinking water supply is limited.
The residents of villages in Manakondur, Shankarapatnam, and Thimmapur face a severe monkey menace.
The issue of returning 432 acres of land to farmers in Nedunur village of Thimmapur mandal is still festering. The land was acquired for a power plant but there has been a delay, making the farmers demand the return of their land. Chada Sudhakar Reddy, a farmer, said, “We have been cultivating crops in these lands. We want them back.”
Election mood is pervading in the constituency but no one is coming forward to openly say whom they are going to support this time. But it is hard to miss the general feeling for change as the incumbent government, they said, has not delivered on its promises.
Md Musa Ali Baig, who migrated to Manakondur in search of employment from Kalvala of Shankarapatnam Mandal, is running a winding shop. He is sore that the government has not helped him in any way. “I lost my land in the Dharani portal. Without making any field visit, the authorities took away my land.”
A vegetable vendor, Pittala Rajamallu, and his wife Sunitha were seen selling onions and ginger in Annaram. “We are not interested in politics. No party helps us,” they said.
A 70-year-old person who was sitting in front of a shop said, “I have regard for Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for giving Aasara pension. But the local MLA Rasamai Balakishan has not done anything for us. He has not allotted double bedroom houses to us,” he rued.
Muslims too are not very happy. They say that a shadikhana promised for Manakondur is still in the works. After laying the foundation stone, the government seems to have lost interest, they said. Interestingly, some Muslims openly say that they would vote for Arepally Mohan though they are against the BJP because of his warm relations with everyone.
On Friday Arepally Mohan campaigned at Shankarapatnam mandal. He is reviving his old contacts when he was the MLA during the Congress rule in the past. Meanwhile, Congress candidate Kavvampalli Satyanarayana said he was trying to connect with the voters by telling them what his party did for them in the past and what it would do in the future.
Besides the party’s promises, he is also giving assurances that he would have reading rooms set up in every village.
Rasamai Balakishan expressed confidence that the BRS would win since each and every household is the beneficiary of the government’s welfare schemes.
After the BRS government came to power, water cess was removed and quality power was being supplied round the clock to all sectors, he said.