The bustling commercial town in this north Telangana district, Kamareddy, has given mandate to different political parties ever since the constituency came into being in 1957 as a reserved seat for SCs.
The constituency returned high-profile Dalit leader T.N. Sadalaxmi to the Assembly from here.
From then on, the Congress was lucky on six occasions, followed by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) four times, independents twice and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) once.
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The TRS’ sitting MLA, Gampa Govardhan, who is seeking re-election, joined the party in 2012 after being elected on TDP ticket in the 2009 elections. In the by-election held in 2012, he defeated senior Congress leader Yedla Raji Reddy by a margin of 44,465 votes.
In 1983, Sanjay Vichar Manch nominee Parsi Gangaiah had won the seat with the support of the TDP defeating then sitting Congress MLA B. Balaiah. Mr Govardhan is the only candidate who was elected thrice from here. Senior Congress leader and former Minister Shabbir Ali, lost the seat in 1999 to TDP’s Yousuf Ali and in 2009 to Mr. Govardhan.
Shabbir’s plans for sonADVERTISEMENT
This time, Mr Shabbir is reportedly trying to field his son Illias whom he has already introduced in politics while continuing as an MLC. If the party prefers him to his son he will have no other option but to contest the election. Once powerful, the TDP has now been relegated to an unenviable position with hardly anyone coming forward to contest on its behalf.
Nittu Venugopal Rao, Vithal Gupta, Ranjith Mohan, Harismaran Reddy, Pabba Vinaykumar and Sidhiramulu are all trying to test their luck from the BJP.
Venugopal Rao as the TDP nominee lost his deposit when he contested against Mr Govardhan in the 2012 by-election. Ranjith Mohan is the former ABVP State president and Harismaran Reddy is a college owner.
Having close contacts with people, Mr Govardhan is the TRS’ mainstay, besides the party’s comfortable position. TRS chief Chandrasekhar Rao’s election promises such as farm loan waiver, pucca housing scheme and Telangana reconstruction are likely to go down well in this parched segment which falls in Zaheerabad Parliamentary constituency despite its proximity to the district headquarter town.
The Congress is likely to claim the sanction of the Rs.165-crore Godavari drinking water scheme and the Pranahitha-Chevella project, which are in progress. Muslim voters with their significant presence also hold the key in this constituency.