It is smooth sailing for Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Warangal (SC) parliamentary constituency as the party seems to be ahead in patenting the rights for the success story of the struggle for separate Telangana.
All the seven Assembly segments in the constituency – Station Ghanpur (SC), Palakurthi, Parkal, Warangal East, Warangal West, Wardhannapet (SC) and Bhupalpalli – are so strong on the Telangana sentiment that the people are refusing to look beyond parties other than the ones that played some role in achieving statehood. The TDP and YSRC naturally fall out because of their tag as opponents of Telangana though the parties are making a strong bid to win individual Assembly seats.
The TDP is not even in the race for the Lok Sabha polls as it has conceded the seat to its alliance partner BJP which has fielded a medical practitioner R. Parameshwar in the hope that he might tilt the scales since he stood second in 2009 as the TRS candidate. But, it is a different story as the TRS has chosen former Minister Kadiam Srihari against the sitting Congress MP S. Rajaiah.
Mr. Srihari is surging ahead mainly in the expectation of handsome margins from Assembly constituencies where too the contest is limited to TRS and Congress. In Station Ghanpur itself, which he represented in the past and went on to become Major Irrigation Minister, TRS nominee T. Rajaiah and his Congress rival and another former Minister G. Vijayarama Rao are battling it out. But odds reportedly were in favour of Dr. Rajaiah because he resigned as MLA and got re-elected on Telangana issue.
Warangal West could also contribute to the party tally in a big way though its sitting MLA D. Vinay Bhaskar is tied up in a three-way contest with former Mayor E. Swarna and former MLA of BJP M. Dharma Rao. A matter of public sympathy for Ms. Swarna could be that she and her husband never won an Assembly election though the couple together contested four times earlier. Parkal, on the other hand, presents an interesting case because the constituency is viewed as a potential yielder of a double whammy for TRS. Konda Surekha who won from Parkal in the past and wielded considerable influence in the constituency is pitted against Basavaraju Saraiah of Congress in Warangal East. So, the TRS expects a two way win. The TRS dropped its sitting MLA M. Bixapathi and has given ticket to an advocate M. Sahodar Reddy who argued several court cases for many ex-Naxalites in the constituency.
The chief operating officer of former Indian Premier League team Deccan Chargers Enagala Venkatram Reddy, who is closely related to media baron T. Venkatram Reddy, is the Congress candidate from Parkal.
The TRS is also betting heavily on its chances in Bhupalpalli, Wardhannapet and Palakurthi. Government Chief Whip G. Venkataramana Reddy is contesting on Congress ticket at Bhupalpalli, Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti leader Manda Krishna with TDP-BJP support at Wardhannapet and a noted endocrinologist N. Sudhakar Rao as TRS candidate at Palakurthi where TDP MLA E. Dayakar Rao is campaigning vigorously. All the three segments could see the defeat of sitting MLAs if the visible TRS wave continued its journey.
