Fresh off a resounding victory in the 2023 Assembly elections, the Congress is hoping to win 14 out of Telangana’s 17 Lok Sabha seats in the forthcoming parliamentary elections scheduled to be held on May 13.
While the party is sitting pretty in at least eight to nine seats, two seats in particular — Mahbubnagar and Malkajgiri — will be two ‘must-win’ seats in the eyes of the Congress leadership, given the close connection that Chief Minister and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy has with these constituencies.
While Mahabubnagar is Mr. Revanth Reddy’s native district and from where he started his political career, first winning as a Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC), the Malkajgiri seat is also of significance for him as he had held this seat till being elected as Chief Minister in 2023. A victory for the party in both these seats will further stamp his authority on the party, as it is Mr. Revanth Reddy’s influence and popularity that is expected to draw votes, rather than the candidates themselves.
Mr. Revanth Reddy, who is keenly aware of this, is pulling out all the stops to ensure victory. He has held the most number of public meetings in Mahbubnagar constituency, and has also been regularly visiting Malkajgiri constituency.
The Congress faces a stiff challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is giving it a serious fight in both constituencies by fielding some big names. In Mahabubnagar, the BJP has fielded D.K. Aruna, a known face in Telangana politics with an impressive resume. First entering the Assembly in 2004 on a Samajwadi Party ticket from Gadwal, she later shifted to the Congress from where she won two more terms in 2009 and 2014.
Ms. Aruna’s father, Ch. Narsireddy, was an MLA as well as her brother Rammohan Reddy, who recently lost as the BRS candidate in Makthal. Her husband’s elder brother D.K. Samarasimha Reddy was a Congress stalwart in the 1980s and 1990s, known for his iron grip on the district, while her nephew Bandla Krishnamohan Reddy is the present MLA from BRS.
Incidentally, her husband D.K. Bharatsimha Reddy was elected as an independent MLA in 1994 from Gadwal constituency defeating his own brother. Ms. Aruna moved over to the BJP before the 2019 elections, losing the Mahabubnagar seat to the BRS candidate Mannem Srinivas Reddy. However, she came second leaving the Congress much behind.
An aggressive Ms. Aruna has had her eye on a Parliamentary constituency for the last five years, and is now all prepared to give Congress candidate Ch. Vamshichand Reddy a run for his money. Mr. Vamshichand is AICC Secretary (Organisation) and a former NSUI and Youth Congress president and a former MLA.
Ms. Aruna is projecting herself as a potential Cabinet Minister at the Centre if she wins and the NDA government is re-elected at the Centre for a third term.
Congress won nine out of 11 constituencies in undivided Mahbubnagar district, which is also home to Nagarkurnool Parliamentary constituency. While it enjoys a strong presence on the ground, a resurgent BJP and the ‘Modi factor’ is what Ms. Aruna hopes to cash in on apart from her own influence in the district.
Given what is at stake, Mr. Revanth Reddy, during his several visits to the district, has targeted Ms. Aruna personally as well as the BJP. People see this as some sort of nervousness within the Chief Minister’s camp.
Malkajgiri is a different challenge
The Malkajgiri seat is proving to be a different challenge as the odds are stacked against the Congress in all respects. The only positive factor is that it was represented by the Chief Minister himself. All the seven Assembly constituencies here are held by the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), and overcoming it is not going to be an easy task. Interestingly, the BRS itself looks in a pretty bad shape despite having all seven MLAs, and the real challenge to Mr. Revanth Reddy comes from the BJP’s Eatala Rajender.
Congress has fielded Sunita Mahender Reddy, wife of BRS MLC Mahender Reddy. Till recently, she was the Zilla Parishad chairperson of the undivided as well as truncated Ranga Reddy district. She is a known name but is relatively new to the voters of Malkajgiri, the largest constituency in the country with 32 lakh voters.
Mr. Revanth Reddy can take some solace from the fact that he emerged victorious from Malkajgiri in 2019 in a similar situation, with the BRS, which was in power, using all its might to deny him a victory. His victory then was widely regarded as one of the finest election battles, coming within three months of his defeat in Kodangal in the Assembly elections. Ms. Sunita, however, does not possess the same stature and name recall that Mr. Revanth Reddy has.
Throughout his campaign, Mr. Revanth Reddy is harping on the sentiment that being the Chief Minister, he can contribute a lot more to the constituency if a Congress candidate is elected. ‘A vote for Sunita is a vote for Revanth’ is the campaigning theme for the Congress there.
BJP’s Eatala Rajender is a known face across Telangana, and his rebellion against then Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao earned him some respect. But curiously enough, he lost the Assembly election from Huzurabad constituency in the November 2023 elections. Though Ms. Sunita Reddy is the candidate, the election primarily is between Mr. Revanth Reddy and the BJP. The BRS, despite having seven MLAs within the Parliament constituency, does not seem to be in a serious battle. It has fielded Ragidi Laxma Reddy from the Parliamentary constituency. Mr. Laxma Reddy had switched his loyalties to the BRS in the last Assembly elections after being denied a Congress ticket.
