The political turf of Kamareddy constituency is in focus as BRS president and CM KCR contests against state Congress President Revanth Reddy.
Published Nov 16, 2023 | 12:00 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 17, 2023 | 4:35 PM
With the Telangana Assembly elections 2023 just days away, South First is bringing you ground reports from key constituencies. This series brings you voices from the ground, the mood of the voters, and issues that matter — as well as those that don’t.
“Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything, for it’s the only thing in this world that lasts. It’s the only thing worth working for, worth fighting for…”
— Margaret Mitchell, the author of Gone with the Wind.
Mitchell’s words are more significant for the residents of at least seven villages lying on the outskirts of the Kamareddy district, over 100 km from Telangana’s capital, Hyderabad.
The villagers have been up in arms for the past two years against the government’s move to acquire their agricultural lands — nearly 3,000 acres — under the Kamareddy Municipality Master Plan for industrial and green-zone development purposes.
They are refusing to trust Minister KT Rama Rao, who assured them of dropping the plan in October.
Narsa Goud, 70, of Rameshwarpally, explained the mistrust.
“He gave only a verbal assurance. But we want a government order to be issued for clarity. What if after the elections the government takes its words back,” he asked South First at a tea stall outside the village.
A small crowd of people around him nodded in agreement. However, they seemed delighted at the sudden focus on their Assembly constituency, Kamareddy.
The otherwise low-key constituency shot into prominence as Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao replaced five-time MLA Gampa Govadhan as the candidate in Kamareddy.
Challenging him is Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy and BJP’s K Venkata Ramanna Reddy, who had been with the Congress earlier.
Chandrashekar Rao and Revanth Reddy are also contesting from two other constituencies, Gajwel and Kodangal, respectively.
In January 2023, P Keshava Ramulu, a farmer of the Adloor-Yellareddy village owning two acres, committed suicide “fearing his land would be acquired by the government”. M Balakrishna of Rameshwarpally, too, consumed poison in March, but survived.
Villagers of Rameshwarpally in Kamareddy. (Ajay Tomar/South First)
Not much has changed since then for E Mallaya, 75, said to be the oldest living person in the village. His two acres are a matter of life and death for him.
“What will we do and eat if the government takes our lands? This is our livelihood and at no cost will we give up our land even if they pay us a handsome amount. Every person of this village will hang himself/herself,” a visibly anguished Mallaya, who just finished sun-drying paddy, told South First.
Apart from Rameshwarpally, six other villages, too fall under the master plan. They are Adloor, Elchipur, Tekriyal, Lingapur, Patha Rajampet and Adloor-Yellareddy.
Y Raju, 35, of the Tekriyal village, who owns three acres, believes that if the government had sought the opinion of the villagers, a consensus could have been reached.
“Neither the local MLA (Gampa Govardhan of the BRS) nor the government discussed the plan with us. They did not announce the compensation, which we all fear would be much less than the land’s market value. The land value differs from village to village but the minimum is around ₹60 – 70 lakh to ₹1 crore per acre. The government would never pay that much,” Raju explained.
Kamareddy master plan. (Supplied)
Raju and others were in a hurry, as S Sudhakar, 32, viewed them with disdain. The men were going to Revanth Reddy’s rally in Kamareddy.
“Why not? They were paid ₹400 to attend it. We will take money from everyone and then vote for whoever we want,” Sudhakar said.
Narsa Goud has another reason for opposing the master plan. “The land price might escalate in the future.” He and others are also worried about losing the benefits of the Rythu Bandhu scheme, once their land is gone.
Sudhakar wanted the government to also withdraw police cases against farmers who had participated in the agitation against the master plan in January 2022.
Every morning, around 4 am, farmers from villages as far as 30 km away come to Kamareddy town’s Rythu Bazaar (integrated farmer’s market) on Subhash Road to sell their produce.
Farmers with their makeshift shops in front of the ‘abandoned’ Rythu Bazaar in Kamareddy town. (Ajay Tomar/South First)
D Shyamala, 48, of the Yergatla village is one of them. Like hundreds of others, she also sets up a makeshift shop either on Subash Road or on the road right in front of the now abandoned integrated market.
Touted as the integrated market yards for the farmers, where they can directly sell their produce to the customer without any middle person, the bazaar is now used as a shelter by dogs or homeless people in the town.
The government on its website boasts that the district Agricultural Market Committee has developed infrastructure facilities such as internal roads, godowns, open platforms, covered sheds, proper electricity, and water supply.
But for Srikanth Reddy, who travels 10 km from Devanpally village, the market is not as claimed by the authorities.
“There is no proper lighting, water, and washroom facility or proper maintenance carried out like the Rythu Bazaar in Siddipet. We shift there only when it rains as there is no other option. The storage room is also rented out to private contractors who have made it inaccessible to us,” Reddy told South First before facing others, who nodded in approval.
Meanwhile, it was 10 am, time for Shyamala to relocate the makeshift shop. “The pucca shop owners won’t allow us to sit here only. This is a daily struggle. If the government bazaar functions, we would have a free space to sit for longer hours,” Shyamala said while speaking to South First.
D Shyamala (48) of Yergatla village in Bhiknoor mandal. (Ajay Tomar/South First)
Clad in a silver silk saree and brown head scarf, she picked up the spinach and started packing.
The farmers pay ₹20 to ₹30 every day as rent to a local contractor who they believe has been appointed by the local Municipal Corporation.
They are eagerly waiting for the construction of a two-storey new integrated market building (nearly three-fourths the size of a football field), which is a few metres away from the present “unused” one.
The Telangana government, via GO 26, had approved the construction of the new Rythu Bazaar in 2017.
“It is twice the size of the Siddipet market and has been under construction for nearly two years now. But the construction work has stopped for several months,” claimed Bhaskar, 47, of Kyasampalle village.
The nearby shopkeepers have now been using the structure as a parking facility.
Chinnamalla Reddy village is 15 minutes from Subhash Road towards Kamareddy town. It has a Zilla Parishad High School (ZPHS) for boys with over three hundred students. The teachers said the school was constructed 70 years ago.
Boys’ washroom at ZPHS Chinnamallareddy in Kamareddy. (Ajay Tomar/South First)
For the more than 300 students, the school has two washrooms, located at the far end of the playground, which itself is a turf of mud.
While the school boasts about three smart classrooms with digital boards, some classrooms do not even have desks or benches.
The school is a picture of neglect with broken floors, crumbling compound walls, and the plastering peeling off the walls.
The teachers expressed dissatisfaction over their delayed salaries, pending dues such as medical bills, surrendered earned leaves (EL), dearness allowance (DA), and promotions.
A classroom at ZPHS Cinnamallareddy in Kamareddy. (Ajay Tomar/South First)
“The salaries are coming as late as on the 15th or 20th of a month. This month it came on the 7th that might be due to elections. Survival is tough as I have to meet the expenses and an EMI on a bank loan. We have three DAs also pending after the 2021 Pay Revision Commission (PRC) came into effect,” one of the teachers told South First on condition of anonymity.
Reports, as far back as December last year, suggested that salaries of the school teachers have not been disbursed on the first day of the month for the past three to four years.
K Venugopal, a retired headmaster and former Andhra Pradesh Teacher Federation (APTF) leader, also shared a similar woe. “My pension is the sole income on which my family survives. The delay has become common now,” the 66-year-old residing in Kamareddy town said.
Kamareddy Assembly constituency in numbers. (Click on the image to enlarge)
On 9 and 10 November, Kamareddy residents in large numbers attended back-to-back political rallies of KCR and Revanth Reddy.
People returning from BRS President and CM KCR’s rally on 9 November. (Ajay Tomar/South First)
While the sitting MLA Gampa Govardhan made way for KCR, Congress veteran and 2018 MLA contestant Mohammed Shabbir Ali stood aside for Revanth Reddy.
Many residents South First spoke to believed that if Shabbir Ali was in the fray, Congress would have benefitted more in the segment.
“He is a local just like the BJP candidate. People know him very well. Revanth Reddy is less known to people here. There are over 30,000 minority votes here,” Krishna Prasad of the SS Computer Coaching Centre in Kamareddy town said.
For Abdul Kareem, 37, a businessman, people would consider the promises made before voting for the BRS.
“Youngsters are facing unemployment here. The Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project water has also not reached the majority of the villages. Canals works have not been completed. People also fear the acquisition of their lands if the BRS comes again,” he said.
The residents say traffic lights at Kamareddy town crossroads, which needs to be widened, are not working for several months. (Ajay Tomar/South First)
J Vinay, 22, and B Shankar, 23, both undergraduate students, spoke about the incomplete or “ignored” development works.
“This main road, known as new bus stand chowrastha (crossroads), is accident prone. It is not wide enough. The signal at crossroads is a dummy for months now,” Vinay claimed while pointing at the dysfunctional traffic signal light.
However, G Manohar, who was returning from KCR’s public meeting, felt the chief minister’s presence in the fray a boon for Kamareddy.
“He (KCR) is the CM. If he comes here, Kamareddy is going to develop in five years more than what it has developed in 20 years unilchider Gampa Govardhan’s tenure. Under his rule, there is no communal disharmony too. Several schemes such as Kalyanlakshmi, Saubhagya Lakshmi scheme are also coming to us,” he asserted.
For Kamareddy residents, BJP’s Ramanna Reddy is a strong contender. “He is a nice man with a vision. But I believe he has chosen the wrong party,” Abdul Karim remarked.
Kamareddy Assembly constituency comprises six mandals — Kamareddy, Machareddy, Domakonda, Bhiknoor, Bibipet and Rajampet.
The Election Commission said the Kamareddy constituency has 2,45,822 voters — 1,27,080 women followed by 1,18,718 men and 24 voters from third gender.
Over 60 percent population in the Kamareddy Assembly constituency comprises Backward Classes (BC). Mudiraja community has the most numbers of voters followed by Munnuru-Kapu and Golla-Kuruma (engaged in cattle rearing).
The SC and ST communities form about 10-15 percent of Kamareddy’s population. The composition of SC includes Mala, Madiga, Beda Budaga Jangam, and others, while the ST community includes Lambada, Erukala, and others.
The remaining percentage comprises forward castes such as Velama, Reddy, and other castes, and Muslims and Christians as well.
