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Journalism of Courage
“One candidate is the Chief Minister (K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR), the other one is a CM aspirant (Telangana Congress president A Revanth Reddy)… Congress gave us Aarogya Sri (during its previous regime), the BRS gave us Rythu Bandhu,” says 50-year-old Ganesh D, a resident of Kamareddy, which is set for a prestige battle between KCR and Revanth.
While KCR is the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supremo, Revanth has emerged as the face of the grand old party in the November 30 Assembly election. Both the leaders are also contesting from their second constituencies: KCR from his sitting seat, Gajwel (Siddipet district), and Revanth, the Malkajgiri MP, from his home turf Kodangal (Vikarabad district).
Veteran Congress leader from Kamareddy and two-time MLA, Mohammed Ali Shabbir, who had lost the seat in the 2018 election to the BRS’s Gampa Govardhan by just 4,557 votes, has been shifted to the neighbouring Nizamabad Urban seat to make way for Revanth after KCR threw his hat in the ring in Kamareddy at the “request” of Govardhan, who has won the seat five times since 1994 but faces anti-incumbency now.
Like Ganesh D, many residents across Kamareddy call the battle “tough” and “close”. Mujib Syed, 27, a mobile shop owner says, “It is going to be decided by 5-10% votes…There is a lot of hulchul (campaigns) from both sides and both are mobilising large crowds.” He however adds that “KCR would have a slight advantage due to his CM factor”.
In the furniture shop next door, Dastagir S K, 28, disagrees, indicating his preference for Reddy. “BRS had the power and the resources for 10 years but still chose to do nothing about jobs. Where are the teacher recruitment notifications… Adi kakunda kumbakonalu emanna takkuva aynava (Apart from this, there is no dearth of scams),” he says.
The rural belts of the constituency also seem to be divided between KCR and Revanth, even as the BJP’s candidate K Venkata Ramana Reddy also enjoys goodwill among the residents for being a local face and his public service.
The BRS is banking on its welfare schemes to return to power for the third consecutive time, but several beneficiaries voiced mixed views, which the Congress has been playing up while showcasing its own slew of welfare pledges.
The family of vegetable vendors and small farmers, Bonala Anjaiah and his wife Vajrava, residents of Chinna Mallareddy village, is a Rythu Bandhu beneficiary, while Vajrava gets a monthly pension of Rs 4,000 meant for physically-challenged people. “KCR is doing well in implementing these schemes while Congress is making many such promises,” says Anjaiah. “But what is the point when prices of gas, electricity, petrol and basic items are soaring?… We don’t have great hopes.”
At a tea shop in Domakonda mandal, Mohammed, 27, speaks of the KCR government’s “minority welfare”. “Minority budget has been increased. We have minority residential schools, shaadi mubarak and honorarium to maulvis.”
His friend Pasha, a driver, contradicts him saying “All the funds he (Mohammad) is talking about are being diverted at the local level,” indicating his backing for Revanth.
In the same village, a farmer M Balapochaiah, 76, asks why the Rythu Bandhu scheme is not being extended to tenant farmers. “The land next to me belongs to a family with 200 acres. They don’t cultivate anything and are not in the village too… They are still getting the benefits,” he says.
Some villagers complain of not getting the monthly Aasara pension despite multiple applications, while a few also flag their grievances over registration of land records on the Dharani portal.
In Sitarampur village in Bikhnoor mandal, Sanjeev Reddy praises the Rythu Bheema insurance scheme. His friend Sanjeev N points to “irregularities” in various programmes, citing the case of the 2 BHK housing scheme. Another villager P Balamani, 28, speaks of her family getting a house through the “Indiramma scheme” during the previous YSR Reddy-led Congress regime.
A BRS activist asserts that the KCR government’s schemes have “reached across rural areas and there is a strong base of beneficiaries, who form about 1.25 lakh voters in this seat (out of an estimated 2.40 lakh voters).” However, even he admits that the Kamareddy fight is going to be “tight”.
Such views also find resonance in Kamareddy town, where Chepuri Krishna, who has been driving an auto-rickshaw for three decades, says: “The BRS government promised double bedroom houses to poor and auto drivers. Nothing has been done… I received Kalyana Lakshmi monetary assistance for marriages of my both daughters, so I will extend support to KCR.”
Holding that KCR has a good chance of winning the Kamareddy seat, Sirimalle Narasimhalu, a tailor in Domakonda, says people may even consider the BJP candidate to avoid a bypoll. “Venkata Ramana is a good candidate and remains among the people. KCR does not meet his ministers and MLAs, why would he meet us if we vote him to power again?” he asks, adding that the Congress would have a “real chance” if Shabbir was pitted against KCR. The Muslim community in Kamareddy accounts for about 11% voters.
Congress campaign manager in Kamareddy, ex-MLA Anil Kumar Eravarthi says, “Poll management in the coming days would be key.”
Eravarthi says Kamareddy is going to see a “triangular” contest with Venkata Ramana having built his base over the last year. He says in this neck-and-neck contest between KCR and Revanth, even a minor swing could prove to be decisive. Referring to the the dominant caste Reddy making up about 7.5% votes of the constituency, he says, “Revanth and the BJP candidate are both Reddys. If the community wants to rally behind a future CM, that could end up being very important.”
Many local residents speak of the BJP nominee as a “local leader who treats you well”. On his part, Venkata Ramana says, “I have been working for five years, focusing on public service, whether it’s creating a master plan for urban development, and identifying issues with the double bedroom scheme or illegal land grabbing. I have built incomplete temples in villages. I have helped build small community halls for different caste groups on a money return policy. This has created a base.”
He has also made an outreach to the major OBC communities, such as the Mudiraj community (13.2% votes) and Padmashalis (7.3% votes), in the constituency.
“Neither KCR nor Revanth will be available in Kamareddy if they win,” says Bommera Shravan Kumar, 32, who works as a store manager in the town. “I have been waiting for a government job. My salary is hardly sufficient to meet my family’s expenses and children’s education… The BRS MLA has done nothing in the last 10 years,” he says, expressing his support for Venkata Ramana.
Saleha Tabassum, a resident of the town’s Barkatpura area, however says it will be a direct contest between KCR and Revanth. “Revanth may be strong but KCR’s graph is still high. He has only done good for Telangana and not harmed anyone. BJP and Congress cannot offer anything for Telangana,” says Tabassum, who recently received a Rs 1 lakh minority assistance from the government. She also says: “KCR united mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law by increasing old age from Rs 200 to Rs 2000, because of which the elderly have not become a burden to families.”
In its campaign, the BRS has been projecting KCR’s local roots. By KCR’s own admission, he was born in Konapur village in Kamareddy’s Bibipet Mandal. In the village, the old two-storied house where KCR’s maternal grandparents lived about seven decades ago have become a popular site with locals taking pride its highlighting its significance.
Former sarpanch Raja Goud, 72, says most of the agricultural lands owned by the CM’s family was submerged along with other parts of the village during the construction of Upper Manair dam in the late 1940s following which KCR’s parents moved to Chintamadaka village in Siddipet where he finished his graduation.
Another villager Mogili Lingaiah says, “No one from the KCR family has been living here since then, which is scattered in different places. KTR (KCR’s son and minister K T Rama Rao) has adopted the village and reconstructed the local school in his personal capacity in memory of his grandmother Venkatamma. The entire village stands behind KCR in support.”
A photo of KCR’s grandparents is displayed on the school’s entrance, which is set for inauguration after the elections. “After Telangana was created, we have good roads, full-time power for agriculture and no drinking water issues. A bridge has been constructed here recently. Only BRS can work for the progress of Telangana,” Lingaiah adds.
