Congress, TRS equally strong in five districts of Telangana

Hyderabad: If the Congress does manage to bag the maximum number of seats this time, it will be due to its candidates who are traditionally strong in poll management techniques. If the TRS makes major inroads as expected, it will be due to the ‘Telangana sentiment’ for which TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao can take all the credit as the party’s candidates are ill-versed in election management.

The Congress and the TRS are evenly poised in Adilabad, Nizamabad, Medak, Karimnagar and Warangal districts and have pushed the TD-BJP combine out of the reckoning. Adilabad and Nizamabad returned one MLA each from the Congress and TRS in 2009, but both parties are poised to grab a majority of seats this time.

The situation is totally different in Medak, which returned only one MLA for the TRS in 2009, but where the TRS is looking at a big win this time as this is the home district of the TRS chief. In Nalgonda district, considered a bastion of the Congress, the TRS will make significant gains though it had no wins from here in 2009.

Again, in Mahbubnagar district, where the TRS did not open its account even in 2009, it is expected to get a formidable majority in the 14 Assembly segments. In contrast, the Telugu Desam, which won in nine of the 14 segments in 2009, is struggling to get a lead in almost all the segments.

A grey area for both the Congress and the TRS are the 34 Assembly segments spread across the HMDA where there is a significant Majlis and TD-BJP presence. The Majlis will try to keep its dominance in the seven Assembly segments it won last time, and may go further, but not beyond 10 seats.

Another grey area is Khammam district, where the YSR Congress which championed a united AP, is making inroads into both the Congress and the TD’s traditional segments, causing trouble. The TRS has not made any significant gains in terms of votes or seats in this district even in 2009.

Here it’s a neck-and-neck race between the TD and the YSRC for the Khammam Lok Sabha seat. As many as 28.1 million people are eligible to vote in the 119 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies spread over 10 districts of Telangana in the first election after the Bill mandating a separate state was passed in Parliament.

Prominent among the Lok Sabha contestants are Union minister S. Jaipal Reddy (Mahbubnagar), Union ministers of state Sarve Satyanarayana (Malkajgiri), Balram Naik (Mahbubabad), Ch. Vidyasagar Rao (Karimnagar), TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao (Medak), his daughter K. Kavita (Nizamabad), Lok Satta chief Jayaprakash Narayan (Malkajgiri) and MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi (Hyderabad).

The candidates for Assembly elections include several aspirants for the Chief Minister’s post, TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao (Gajwel), Telangana Congress president Ponnala Lakshmaiah (Jangaon), Congress working president Uttam Kumar Reddy (Huzurnagar), former Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha (Andhole), and former ministers Dr J. Geeta Reddy

(Zaheerabad), D. Srinivas (Nizamabad Rural), D. Sridhar Babu (Manthani), D.K. Aruna (Gadwal) and former Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka (Madhira). Members of Parliament include V. Hanumantha Rao (Amberpet). BJP state president G. Kishan Reddy (Amberpet), Majlis Legislature Party leader Akbaruddin Owaisi (Chandrayangutta), chief ministerial candidate announced by the TD R. Krishnaiah (LB Nagar), the TD’s Telangana election committee leaders L. Ramana (Jagityal), E. Dayakara Rao (Palakurthy) and M. Narasimhulu (Madhira).