Graduate MLC By-Polls May Turn to Be a Tough Fight

Warangal: The candidates who are in the race for the graduate MLC by-polls for the Warangal, Nalgonda and Khammam constituency are leaving no stone turned for victory and have intensified their campaign in erstwhile Warangal district.

The by-polls for the graduate MLC post for the Warangal-Nalgonda-Khammam constituency was necessitated because of the resignation of BRS MLC Palla Rajeshwar Reddy after winning in the Assembly elections from the Jangaon constituency.

Congress candidate Theenmar Mallanna alias Chintapandu Naveen Kumar, BRS candidate Anugula Rakesh Reddy, and BJP candidate Gujjala Premendar Reddy are likely to face tough competition from suspended Congress leader Bukka Judson and Ashok, who has a good following among unemployed youth.

After the formation of the Telangana state, the BRS candidates registered successive victories from the Warangal-Nalgonda-Khammam constituency, making it a prestigious contest for the opposition party.

However, BRS candidate Rakesh Reddy is facing a tough time as prominent party leaders from both Warangal and Nalgonda districts are staying away from his campaign. Many leaders including former minister Jagadish Reddy, former MLAs Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar, Peddi Sudarshan Reddy, former KUDA chairman Sundar Raj, and Marri Yadav Reddy who opposed his candidature are staying away from the poll campaign

Rakesh Reddy is trying hard to reach out to the graduates with the support extended by BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao and Jangaon MLA Palla Rajeshwar Reddy.

As 30 out of 32 MLAs from the three erstwhile districts are from the Congress, Theenmar Mallanna is using it to his advantage. He is interacting with the youth, and conducting meetings with unemployed people. Mallanna has a huge network in three districts in the name of the Mallanna team which is also working hard for his victory.

However, Mallanna may face a tough time in the wake of the suspended Congress leader Bukka Judson joining the poll fray. He has a good following in the youth and educated persons. Judson exposed the details of the illegal property of BRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha. He also questioned Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for not responding to peoples’ issues.

Mallanna may also face competition from the independent candidate Ashok, who is familiar among the unemployed youth through his coaching centre which he is running in the name of Ashok Academy in Hyderabad. He took up innovative protest programmes against the implementation of G.O.number 46 and got a good following among unemployed youth, teachers and educated sections.

The BJP leadership has also kept a special focus on the graduate MLC by-polls and by fielding Gulla Premendar Reddy, who intensified the poll campaign by appointing incharges to all the 32 assembly constituencies.

By highlighting the failures of the previous BRS government and alleging that the Congress came to power with the fake promises, the BJP leaders are reaching out to the graduates and unemployed persons. They are trying to attract the educated youth hoping that the craze they are having towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi would help them convert into votes in the MLC bypoll.