Revanth faces tough battles in four Lok Sabha seats

Hyderabad: Adverse internal survey reports on the Congress’ performance in the Mahbubnagar, Chevella, Malkajgiri and Secunderabad Lok Sabha seats have reportedly put TPCC president and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy in a very tight spot.

The surveys reportedly indicated that the Congress was facing infighting, non-cooperation of local Congress leaders and cadre to 'turncoat candidates' who joined recently from the BRS but got tickets in Chevella, Malkajgiri and Secunderabad. In Mahbubnagar, the party was reportedly battling infighting between Congress MLAs.

Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender and Chevella MP Gaddan Ranjith Reddy, both from the BRS, walked into the Congress and within days secured tickets for Secunderabad and Chevella.

Vikarabad zilla parishad chairperson Patnam Sunitha Mahender Reddy, the wife of BRS MLC Patnam Mahender Reddy, joined the Congress in February and secured the ticket for Malkajgiri, won by Revanth Reddy in 2019.

Nagender and Ranjith Reddy are facing the wrath of local Congress leaders and workers for mistreating them when in power with the BRS. The Congress workers in these two seats are staying away from their campaigns as also from election preparedness meetings.

Their contention was that both leaders had harassed Congress leaders and workers and booked false police cases against them while they were in the BRS from 2018 to 2023, and were now seeking to ride on their shoulders as Congress candidates.

The Malkajgiri Congress rank and file consider Sunitha Reddy a 'weak and little-known leader' who stood no chance of winning the prestigious seat, India's largest in terms of voters.

Khairatabad Congress leader P. Vijaya Reddy has had differences with Nagender for long; she quit the BRS to join the Congress because Nagendar was obstructing her political growth. Nagender, a Congressman for long, shifted to the BRS when it was in power and rejoined the Congress after it formed government. Vijaya Reddy and her supporters are keeping off his meetings.

Former GHMC mayor Bonthu Rammohan joined the Congress from the BJP hoping to get the Secunderabad ticket. But Nagender's sudden entry upset his calculations and Rammohan is now keeping his distance.

In the recent Assembly polls, the Congress almost swept the combined Mahbubnagar district area winning 10 out of 12 seats. Despite this, Congress candidate Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy is reportedly facing rough weather due to infighting between party MLAs and local leaders.

Party sources said Malkajgiri and Mahbubnagar were posing a big political challenge to Revanth Reddy — he won from the former seat in 2019 and is MLA from Kodangal which is in Mahbubnagar, his native district.

As TPCC head and Chief Minister, it is of utmost importance for Revanth Reddy to win both these seats to consolidate his position; a defeat in these seats it is feared could weaken him both in the party and government.

It was against this backdrop that Revanth Reddy initiated a damage control exercise to quell infighting in these constituencies besides attempting to lure voters with promises ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Sources added that poor internal survey reports on the Congress performance forced Revanth Reddy to suddenly announce the Rs 2 lakh crop loan waiver at Narayanpet on Monday. He is expected to announce implementation dates of pending Six Guarantees and other major poll promises in the upcoming election rallies as the surveys reportedly pointed out that the BJP and the BRS were gaining ground by raking up pending promises of Congress aggressively.