Despite oustees’ anger against BRS, three-way contest expected in Telangana's Medak
SANGAREDDY: B Kumar, a farmer in Markook mandal headquarters, lost three-and-a-half acres of land to the Kondapochamma project and in turn he was given, by the previous state government, a “paltry sum” with which he cannot buy even a half acre of land. “My land was close to the former chief minister’s farmhouse. The BRS government took all that in the name of Kondapochamma project. Here one acre of land costs Rs 1 crore in the open market. But the government gave me just Rs 12 lakh per acre. Now, I am finding it difficult to buy even half an acre of land,” laments Kumar.
“While acquiring our lands, the government also promised to provide jobs for one member of the oustees’ families, double-bedroom houses, a tractor, and two cows or buffaloes. But none of those promises were fulfilled,” he adds.
The previous government invited the wrath of many such oustees — not just those affected by Kondapochamma but also two other projects, Mallannasagar and Ranganayakasagar. This anger is likely to work against the pink party candidate in Medak — P Venkatram Reddy, whose main rivals will be the BJP’s M Raghunandan Rao and Neelam Madhu Mudiraj of the Congress.
“The BRS government betrayed all the oustees. Even those who supported the BRS in the Assembly elections are now thinking of voting for either the BJP or Congress,” says Pratap Reddy, whose village got submerged under the Mallannasagar project.
Villagers’ ire directed at Venkatram
Their anger is specifically directed at BRS candidate in Medak Lok Sabha segment, Venkatram Reddy, a former Siddipet collector who oversaw acquisition of lands for these projects. The oustees accuse him of forcing them to vacate their villages with the help of hundreds of policemen in the middle of night “just to please the former chief minister”.
“We pleaded with Venkatram Reddy when he was the collector to do justice to us. But all our pleas fell on deaf ears,” says a resident of an affected village. “Venkatram Reddy took our land on the outskirts of Siddipet for the Ranganayak Sagar project. But that land was allotted to the Siddipet Urban Development Authority to set up a resort,” says another.
Venkatram, who is close to former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, was appointed as the project director and joint collector of the District Water Management Authority in the erstwhile Medak district in 2002. In 2016, he was appointed as the first collector of the newly formed Siddipet district. Venkatram went on to work like a trusted aide of KCR and managed to carry out a large-scale land acquisition programme for different projects despite resistance from the farmers.
In November 2021, he resigned as the collector and KCR nominated him as an MLC under the MLAs quota. The BRS chief has now fielded him from the Medak LS segment. Interestingly, former minister T Harish Rao is campaigning vigorously for Venkatram, giving a much-needed boost to the party candidate.
However, there is strong opposition to Venkatram, especially in the villages affected by these four projects. But despite the oustees’ anger against the BRS, the Medak seat is likely to witness a keen three-way contest, especially considering the pink party’s performance in the previous elections. Since 2004, the BRS won the seat five times, including the 2014 by-election, with KCR, Ale Narendra, Vijayashanthi and K Prabhakar Reddy contesting successfully from this segment. Gajwel and Siddipet Assembly segments, which are being represented by KCR and Harish Rao respectively, also come under this LS segment.
The oustees are also not that happy with BJP candidate Raghunandan Rao. During the 2021 bypoll for Dubbak Assembly seat, which he managed to secured, the former MLA raised the issue of Mallannasagar oustees and criticised the government for giving `13 lakh per acre to the affected farmers, which he said was much less than what was being given to the oustees of Ranganayakasagar and Kondapochamma projects in Siddipet district. Raghunandan, who worked with KCR during the separate Telangana movement and also served as the erstwhile Medak district unit president of the TRS (now BRS), had promised to ensure that the Mallannasagar oustees get better compensation but failed to fulfil that promise.
Raghunandan, who was defeated by BRS candidate K Prabhakar Reddy in the 2023 Assembly elections in Dubbaka, is now banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image and the development works taken up by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre to secure the Medak LS seat. He is also highlighting the work he has done when he was the Dubbak MLA to impress the voters during his campaign.
His morale is also boosted by the support he is getting from certain sections, especially in rural areas. “I will definitely be supporting the BJP candidate this time,” says D Yella Reddy, a farmer from Gajwel. “What’s the point in giving my vote to the BRS? It will be the BJP or maybe the Congress which will form the government at the Centre,” he adds.
Mudiraj voters’ influence
Congress candidate Neelam Madhu, a former sarpanch of Chitkul village in Patancheru mandal, is well-known because of the social service programmes he has been organising.
He is hoping that his popularity, coupled with backing from the six lakh Mudiraj voters in the segment and the grand old party’s success in the recent Assembly elections, will help him secure the Medak seat.