Constituency Watch: Mahabubnagar to see repeat of 2019 contest with changed equation

Hyderabad, March (IANS) Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana is set to witness an interesting three-cornered contest in the May 13 election.

The fight will be a repeat of 2019 with all the three main parties fielding the same candidates. However, the changed political equation in the state and shifting of loyalties by some key leaders have made the battle interesting.

Sitting MP M. Srinivas Reddy of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) will be facing a tough challenge from BJP's national vice-president D. K. Aruna and Congress Working Committee's special invitee Challa Vamshichand Reddy.

BRS, which lost power to Congress recently, may find it difficult to win the seat for a fourth consecutive term.

The party lost all seven Assembly segments in the Lok Sabha constituency to the Congress party.

Defection of some key leaders from both BRS and BJP have dealt blow to them in the run-up to the polls.

This is a prestigious seat for Congress as Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy's Assembly segment Kodangal comes under it.

The Congress party wrested all the seven Assembly segments under Mahabubnagar Parliamentary constituency from BRS in the elections held on November 30, 2023.

The Congress party polled over 6.11 lakh votes in these Assembly segments.

The BRS, whose candidates were runner-up in all the segments, secured 5.11 lakh votes.

The BJP was distant third with 1.13 lakh votes. It polled more than 45,000 votes in the Makthal segment.

With all seven Assembly segments in its hands and Chief Minister especially focussing on Mahabubnagar, the Congress party is confident of wresting it from BRS.

Vamshichand Reddy, who is also AICC secretary, believes that the implementation of some key guarantees by the Congress government during last 100 days has brightened the party's prospects.

On the other hand, BJP is pinning its hopes on the different voting pattern in the Lok Sabha polls and also (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi factor.

Aruna, a former minister in erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh, had done well in 2019 to push Congress party to third position.

She is confident of building on the performance of previous polls.

As the BJP had clinched the seat in 1999, the leaders of the party believe that it can emerge victorious once again.

However, the resignation of A. Jithender Reddy, who was elected on BJP ticket in 1999, has caused a setback to the party.

Jithender is a two-time MP from Mahabubnagar.

His son A.P. Mithun Kumar Reddy had contested the recent Assembly elections on a BJP ticket from Mahabubnagar Assembly constituency but finished a distant third.

Unhappy with the BJP leadership fielding 'outsider' Aruna, Jithender Reddy last week quit the party.

The BJP national executive member joined the ruling Congress party and he was immediately rewarded with the post of state government's special representative in Delhi.

He was also appointed advisor to government (sports affairs).

In 2019, Jithender Reddy had quit TRS (now BRS) to return to BJP after he was denied ticket.

In 2019, Manne Srinivas Reddy had defeated his nearest rival Aruna by a margin of 77,829 votes.

Srinivas Reddy, a businessman and then a newcomer to politics, had polled more than 4.11 lakh votes while Aruna had secured over 3.33 lakh votes.

Vamshichand Reddy was a distant third with 1.93 lakh votes.

Mahabubnagar is a prestigious constituency for BRS as its president K. Chandrasekhar Rao was elected from here in 2009.

As MP from this constituency, he stepped up the Telangana movement and achieved the goal of Telangana state.

However, in recent times, the party lost some key leaders to Congress.

Two days ago, Mahabubnagar Zilla Parishad chairperson Swarna Sudhakar Reddy of BRS joined the Congress.

The constituency, which has over 15 lakh voters, was once considered one of the backward and drought-prone regions and was known for migration of its agriculture workers.

Palamuru, as Mahabubnagar is also known, has elected Congress candidates 10 times since 1952.

The BRS captured the seat thrice.

Telangana Praja Samithi, Janata Party, Janata Dal and BJP won the seat one time each.

This constituency was once represented by former union minister late S. Jaipal Reddy, a relative of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

He was elected from here in 1984 as Janta Party candidate and in 1998 on Janata Dal ticket.

He, however, suffered defeat as a Congress candidate by a narrow margin of 2,590 votes in 2014 to Jithender Reddy, who had contested as BRS candidate.

Revanth Reddy is focussing on Mahabubnagar constituency.

Addressing first public meeting in his constituency, Kodangal, after becoming the Chief Minister, he announced Vamshichand Reddy as the Congress candidate from Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha seat. Vamshichand Reddy is a former MLA from Kalwakurthy constituency.

He was keen to contest from the same constituency in the recent Assembly polls but had to sacrifice the seat for Kasireddy Narayan Reddy, who quit BRS to join Congress a few weeks before the elections.

The Chief Minister kicked off the Congress campaign for Lok Sabha with a public meeting in Mahabubnagar town on March 6.

During his visit to Kodangal, the Chief Minister also launched several development projects.

He also laid the foundation stone for Narayanpet-Kodangal lift irrigation scheme.

As Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) on Krishna river is pending for a long time and considered important to improve irrigation in the constituency, it will be one of the key poll issues.

The Congress government is already focussing on it.

On his maiden visit to Delhi after assuming office of the chief minister, Revanth Reddy had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant national project status to PRLIS.

At the public meeting in Mahabubnagar, Revanth Reddy also slammed his predecessor KCR for doing nothing for the development of the constituency and for construction of PRLIS as MP from the constituency and later as the chief minister for 10 years.