HYDERABAD: Like in almost all other districts across Telangana, a triangular contest between the BRS, BJP and Congress is expected in several segments of the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district in the Assembly elections due later this year. With some months to go before elections, leaders of all three parties have begun the spadework to win as many seats in the district as possible. However, all three parties are riven with internal dissensions.
The BRS won 13 of the 14 Assembly seats in the district in 2018 while the Congress picked up only one. The lone Congress legislator B Harshavardhan Reddy (Kollapur) later joined the BRS. Five years later, all is not well in the ruling party in the district – the party is dogged by factionalism with MLCs, MLAs, and ZP chairpersons at loggerheads with one another. In Kalwakurthy, MLC Kasireddy Narayan Reddy and MLA Jaipal Yadav are not able to get along while MLC Damodhar Reddy and MLA Janardhan Reddy have their daggers drawn for quite some time now in Nagarkurnool.
In Gadwal district, MLA Krishnamohan Reddy and the ZP chairperson Saritha do not see eye to eye. The party is facing a serious threat from Congress which gave a tough fight in the last Assembly elections in Kodangal, Narayanpet, Gadwal, Acchampet, Kollapur and Shadnagar.In Kalwakurthy, BJP nominee Talloju Achary who gave the BRS candidate G Jaipal Yadav a run for his money is now appearing like an apparition before the sitting legislator.
Almost all the MLAs are likely to get party tickets with KCR dropping enough indications that the sitting legislators would be renominated. A former minister from Kollapur, Jupally Krishna Rao lost in 2018 to Congress’ Harshavardhan Reddy who later joined the BRS. Now there is suspense over whether the BRS ticket would go to Harshavardhan Reddy or Krishna Rao.
The grand old party is facing a serious problem in the district where its lone MLA ditched the party and joined the BRS. Even senior leaders are not showing much interest in improving the prospects of the party. In Wanaparthy, former minister G Chinna Reddy has not been showing much interest in contesting. Youth Congress president Shiv Sena Reddy is trying hard to get a ticket but it is not yet clear if the party will respond to his entreaties.
Though it is clear that this time TPCC chief and MP A Revanth Reddy is keen on contesting for Assembly, it is not known whether he would seek election from his native Kodangal or from one of the urban segments in his Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency.
According to sources, former MLA Gurunath Reddy is likely to come back home to the Congress.
Former MLAs of Kalwakurthy, Achampet and Alampur – Vamshichand Reddy, Dr Vamshikrishna and SA Sampath Kumar respectively -- are working at the ground level to contest. Former minister Nagam Janardhan Reddy has increased his activities in his constituency.
In Jadcherla, uncertainty continues as to who would be the party nominee as there are two contenders for the ticket -- former MLA Erra Shekhar and upcoming leader Anirudh Reddy. In Shadnagar, Veerlapalli Shankar is nursing his constituency hoping to get a party nomination. In Gadwal, Patel Prabhakar Reddy and Rajiv Reddy are expecting tickets.
G Madhusudhan Reddy in Devarakadra, and E Kothwal in Mahbubnagar are also expecting tickets. In Narayanapet, former DCC president and aspirant Shivakumar Reddy was suspended recently after allegations of rape surfaced against him. As there is no other leader worth his salt, the party might try to land a leader from the BRS to field him from here.
On its part, the BJP is working very hard to win as many seats as possible from Mahbubnagar. Party vice-president DK Aruna and former MP AP Jitender Reddy hail from the district. According to sources, Aruna is likely to contest from Gadwal but she is also nursing the Mahbubnagar constituency.
Jithender Reddy’s elder son Mithun Reddy is keen on entering the electoral fray from Shadnagar. In Kalwakurthy, Achary is determined to win the seat after giving the scare of his life to BRS MLA Jaipal Yadav in 2018.
In Devarakadra, Pavan Kumar Reddy wants to test his luck while in Makthal, Jalandhar Reddy and Yelleni Sudhakar Rao in Kollapur are showing interest in contesting. There are no other strong leaders in the rest of the segments and the party is out in the field to pick up disgruntled leaders in BRS for Wanaparthy, Gadwal and Kodangal.
Leaders begin spadework
Leaders of all the three parties have begun the spadework to win as many seats in the district as possible. Erstwhile Mahbubnagar districts sends 14 MLAs to the Assembly.