HYDERABAD: Chevella parliamentary constituency came into existence just two elections ago after delimitation of the Hyderabad Parliamentary constituency in 2008 but for the upcoming general elections, it is one of the most hotly contested constituencies in Telangana, thanks to political turncoats.
Unlike the prevalent exodus of leaders from Congress to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Chevella witnessed the opposite with the sitting MP and entrepreneur Konda Vishweshwar Reddy—elected in 2014 on a TRS ticket —switched his loyalties to the Congress party days before the Assembly elections last year.
In the recently announced list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Reddy’s candidature from the constituency has been confirmed by the Congress.
However, it is not just the inverse exodus from TRS to Congress that has heated up the contest in Chevella.
The switch to TRS made by Sabitha Indra Reddy—the first woman home minister of united Andhra Pradesh and incumbent Congress MLA from Maheshwaram Assembly constituency one of Chevella’s seven Assembly segments—is yet another reason.
Sabitha—once a staunch Congress leader and four-time MLA—has a strong influence in the Chevella constituency. She has won twice each from the Chevella and Maheshwaram Assembly constituencies in the past.
Her late husband, P Indra Reddy was elected from the Chevella Assembly segment four times. Interestingly, her son P Karthik Reddy had also contested the Chevella Parliamentary seat on a Congress ticket in 2014 but remained unsuccessful after he lost to Vishweshwar Reddy.
It remains to be seen if Karthik Reddy will get a chance to contest from the Chevella Parliamentary constituency again, as information doing rounds in political circles say that the ruling TRS might field G Ranjith Reddy from the constituency—founder of the SR Group, and president of TS Poultry Breeders Association.
An eclectic demography
The voter demography of Chevella is vibrant and it can be said that it presents a picture of developing India.
It covers the entire spectrum from professionals working for MNCs for whom central government policies on promotion of startups, income tax and air connectivity matter to rural folk dependent
on agriculture for livelihood for whom policies on farm loans and subsidies are important.
This is because, while on one hand Chevella parliamentary constituency has rural assembly constituencies like Pargi, Vikarabad amd Tandur, it also has Serilingampally and Rajendranagar with highly valuable commercial and residential real estate market and many technology companies. To win this constituency, a leader will have to appeal to the intellect of both its rural and urban populace.