Two seats for KCR: Why and why not

రానున్న తెలంగాణ అసెంబ్లీ ఎన్నికలకు సంబంధించి బీఆర్ఎస్ పార్టీ అభ్య‌ర్థుల జాబితాను పార్టీ అధినేత, సీఎం శ్రీ కేసీఆర్ తెలంగాణ‌ భవ‌న్‌లో ప్ర‌క‌టించారు.

కారు గుర్తుకే ఓటేద్దాం…
సీఎం కేసీఆర్‌ గారి నాయకత్వాన్ని బలపరుద్దాం…
అభివృద్ధి, సంక్షేమాన్ని కొనసాగిద్దాం.

✊ జై తెలంగాణ… pic.twitter.com/B8X60jfNW7

— BRS Party (@BRSparty) August 21, 2023

Incumbent MLA Gampa Govardhan has been winning Kamareddy since 2009. Sources in the BRS said Govardhan had requested KCR to contest from his constituency as per the wishes of the people of his constituency.

With this move, KCR will follow in the footsteps of former CM of undivided Andhra Pradesh and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder N T Rama Rao, who also contested the 1989 Assembly elections from two constituencies – Hindupur in Anantapur district (in present-day AP) and from Kalwakurthy (in Telangana now). He lost from Kalwakurty but won Hindupur.

This is also not the first time KCR is contesting two elections simultaneously. In 2014, he won both Gajwel and the Medak parliamentary constituency. But he resigned as the MP of Medak.

With almost 2.4 lakh voters, Kamareddy is a rapidly growing urban area known for its textiles markets, poultry farms, agriculture, and large agriculture market. The district of Kamareddy was carved out of the erstwhile Nizamabad district and the Assembly constituency is part of the Zahirabad parliamentary seat. It consists of the six mandals of Kamareddy, Machareddy, Domakonda, Bibipet, Bhiknoor, and Rajampet. According to political observers, the key to winning the constituency is the 20,000-odd Muslim votes. The constituency had a sizeable number of TDP supporters who shifted to the BJP. Without any base, the BJP polled 13,900 and 15,400 votes in 2014 and 2018 respectively.

TIll Govardhan began his winning streak in 2009, no MLA had won Kamareddy in consecutive elections. From 1952, it swung between the Congress and Independents before the TDP won it for the first time in 1983, with P Gangaiah getting elected. The party retained the seat two years later but its candidate at the time was A Krishna Murthy. In 1989, Mohammed Ali Shabbir of the Congress regained the constituency for his party, defeating Govardhan who was with the TDP back then. Govardhan won the seat five years later but though the TDP won again in 1999, it went with Yousuf Ali. Shabbir regained the seat in 2004 amid a pro-Y S Rajashekhara Reddy wave. But since then Govardhan has been winning Kamareddy.

“I have done good work here, thanks to the support of KCR. Due to the goodwill, people want to see the CM contesting from Kamareddy. They want to elect KCR from here and send him again as CM for the record third time,” said the four-time MLA.

Working to the advantage of the BRS is the support of the Muslim community. Though Govardhan defeated Shabbir Ali by more than 18,000 votes in 2014, anti-incumbency and low polling brought down his margin to over 5,000 four years later.

Talking about KCR’s decision, Shabbir said, “KCR’s decision to contest from both Gajwel and Kamareddy means that he knew that Gampa Govardhan won’t be able to defeat me in the next elections. However, by deciding to contest against me, KCR has expressed his hatred towards Muslim leadership. I played a significant role in bringing 4% reservation for Muslims during the Congress rule. I was twice elected as an MLA and once as MLC and I was also the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council for almost four years. Since my victory in the coming elections from Kamareddy was certain, KCR entered Kamareddy to increase the chances of my defeat. But he will fail in this attempt and the people of Kamareddy will teach KCR the biggest lesson of his life.”

In 2014, KCR won Gajwel – which is made up of Gajwel, Toopran, Kondapaka, Jagdevpur, Wargal, and Mulug – by defeating TDP’s Pratap Reddy Vanteru by 19,391 votes. In 2018, KCR won with a huge majority and again defeated Vanteru, who joined the Congress, by more than 58,000 votes.