Hyderabad: The BJP and Congress are racing ahead in the fight for the Medak Lok Sabha seat, which will effectively put an end to the over 20-year winning streak of the BRS.
Medak district has been a stronghold of the family of BRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao for nearly four decades, from the time he won the Siddipet Assembly seat in 1985.
The BRS won six out of seven Assembly segments in the Medak Lok Sabha constituency despite which the fight for the Medak Lok Sabha seat has narrowed down to a straight contest between the BJP and Congress due to some fast-paced developments.
The arrest of Rao’s daughter K. Kavitha in the Delhi liquor scam, followed by a series of corruption charges, including the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme, and many senior leaders joining other parties, have collectively demoralised the party workers in Medak Lok Sabha constituency.
The BRS presence appears to be confined to a few urban pockets of Siddipet, Dubbak and Gajwel.
The choice of retired IAS officer Venkatram Reddy as its nominee has also come as a major drawback given his controversial role as the Siddipet district collector. He is facing resentment for forcefully evacuating people from several villages to make way for the construction of the Mallannasagar, Ranganayakasagar and Konda Pochammasagar reservoirs.
Congress candidate Neelam Madhu, who belongs to the strong Mudiraj community, had played the caste card and managed to get the support of several OBC groups in the last few weeks. The OBCs alone represent around 55 per cent of the voters.
The BJP is banking heavily on the strong Modi wave in the constituency. BJP candidate M. Raghunandan Rao is trying to convince the electorate that voting for the BRS can no way help them as Rao is not in power.
The BJP is making a major issue of Venkatram Reddy’s announcement of creating a `100 crore corpus fund exclusively for the education sector. He is highlighting the BRS candidate’s alleged corrupt deals in irrigation projects.
Around 60,000 women workers involved in bidi rolling, who failed to get pension under the BRS rule, are rallying behind the BJP as it has promised to increase their pension to Rs.3,000 per month.
The BJP candidate is also trying to woo farmers by telling how they were benefited by the Rs.2,350 subsidy on a urea bag. He is reaching out to voters that the free rice scheme extended through ration shops which they were getting is being provided by the Central government and not by the state.
How the cookie crumbles
The BRS won six of the seven Assembly seats in the Medak Lok Sabha constituency but is poorly placed for the May 13 polls.
The Congress is facing off the BJP in Patancheru.
Narsapur BRS MLA Sunita Laxma Reddy is not taking part in the campaign, intends to return to the Congress.
Congress leader T. Jayaprakash ‘Jagga’ Reddy is taking active interest in his hometown Sangareddy as his prospects in the party are linked with the poll outcome.
Congress won the Medak seat, where the fight is with the BJP.
Dubbak, once represented by BJP, is facing a tough fight between the BJP and the BRS.
KCR won from Gajwel, but BJP is well placed because of the goodwill its leader Etala Rajendar enjoys.
