“Anna you are our well wisher and have been with us during our hardships. How can we leave you at this juncture when you got an opportunity contest the election yet again,” residents of Mombajipet in Lingampet mandal told Congress candidate Jajula Surender from Yellareddy Assembly constituency in Kamareddy district as they presented him ₹ 10,000 to file his nomination papers.
A strange spectacle is being witnessed in Yellareddy constituency as people are voluntarily coming forward to donate money for his campaign. Be it ₹ 100 from a poor farmer to the entire village offering him money ranging from ₹ 5,000 and upwards.
Jajula Surender popular as Nallamadugu Surender is at a loss of words at the affection being showered upon him by the voters in the constituency. There is reason for such unusual spectacle in the constituency where former MLA Enugu Ravinder Reddy, who won three consecutive elections, is fighting to retain the seat.
Long time aspirant
Surender was one of the earliest leaders from Yellareddy constituency to work under the leadership of K. Chandrasekhar Rao when the Telangana Rashtra Samithi was formed. He had aspired for the ticket in 2004 elections but missed the bus as Ravinder Reddy was preferred.
Surender contested the elections as an independent and lost the polls in 2004. Subsequently, he got the TDP ticket in 2009 but failed to make it to the Assembly. In 2014 too he got the Congress ticket but lost to Ravinder Reddy.
Not only Mombajipet but also residents of tribal hamlets in Gandhari and Lingampet mandal offered him money. Surprisingly, residents of Errapahad, native village of TRS candidate presented him a cheque of ₹ 50,000. So overwhelmed was Mr. Surender by the gesture, he urged them to give him one chance. Talking to The Hindu , Mr. Surender said he had sincerely worked for the TRS but his services were not recognized. “I did everything for the party but there was no reward. My voters have seen me and my work and they are now paying me back as an gratitude. I was speechless when an old tribal man took out a ₹ 100 note and gave it to me,” he said.
Public sympathy
“Three successive defeats created a sort of sympathy among the constituents. Such is his goodwill among the people that they decided to come forward and offer him money. He lost everything for the sake of the people and the TRS for which he worked hard,” said Shaik Issauddin, a petty vendor in Gandhari mandal headquarters of Kamareddy district.
