Velpur village in Balkonda Assembly constituency and Armoor revenue division is in the news again.
This major village which has produced many politicians achieved another distinction with the arrival of BJP’s Dharmapuri Arvind on the political map of Telangana.
Mr Arvind turned out to be the ‘man of the match’ on Thursday when he defeated sitting Nizamabad MP K. Kavitha of the TRS in the Lok Sabha elections. The village is home to Mr Arvind’s father and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Dharmapuri Srinivas, who served as MLA, MLC, Minister and twice as APCC president.
The incumbent Roads and Buildings Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy is also from the same village.
Mr Reddy’s paternal aunt Eleti Annapoornamma who represented Armoor in the Assembly twice was born and brought up in the village.
She was married to Eleti Mahipal Reddy of Choutpally in Kammarpally mandal.
Late Mahipal Reddy who served as Minister in N.T. Rama Rao’s Cabinet was an influential TDP leader in the district in those days.
Incidentally, he was the maternal uncle of former Speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy.
Prashanth Reddy’s father Surender Reddy was one of the founder members of the TRS and unsuccessfully contested twice on TRS ticket in Balkonda.
Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao used to hold him in high respect as a senior leader.
With the election of Mr Arvind, the village has produced another star in Telangana’s political firmament.
