The ruling TRS drew a blank in the just concluded elections in the tribal dominated district while the Congress-led People’s Front swept all the five seats (one general and four tribal constituencies) in the district, considered Telangana’s tribal heartland.
Despite scripting a spectacular win in Friday’s elections elsewhere in the State, the TRS has failed to open its account in the district this time and lost its sitting seat Kothagudem to Congress in the high stakes election.
CPI (M)-Bahujan Left Front (BLF), the BSP, the BJP and other main political parties also drew a blank in the district.
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One for TDP
The Congress consolidated its position in the tribal and coal belt region of the district by winning four seats (Kothagudem, Bhadrachalam, Yellandu and Pinapaka). Its ally TDP bagged Aswaraopet ST seat enabling the People’s Front make a clean sweep in the district.
The Front polled 3,32,530 votes as compared to TRS total tally of 2,81,017 votes in all the five constituencies in the district. All the five constituencies put together registered 8041 ‘NOTA’ votes.
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Congress captured the ST-reserved Bhadrachalam seat, considered the traditional citadel of the CPI (M), where its candidate Podem Veeraiah trounced TRS candidate Tellam Venkat Rao by an impressive margin of 11,785 votes. CPI (M)’s candidate and former MP Midiam Babu Rao finished third in the keenly fought triangular contest.
BJP’s candidate and former MLA K. Satyavathi bagged 1824 votes less than NOTA votes’ tally of 2106 in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected constituency adjoining Chhattisgarh.
Pending issues
Congress wrested the coveted Kothagudem seat, the only general constituency in the district, from the TRS with its candidate Vanama Venkateswara Rao defeating the TRS sitting MLA Jalagam Venkat Rao in a fiercely fought contest by a slim margin of 4,139 votes. Factors like the long pending issues of Podu cultivators, lack of effective organisational network and internal bickering seem to have adversely affected the ruling party’s poll prospects in the predominantly tribal district.