The rebel menace is much pronounced in the Congress, but the BRS is no exception to the inevitable roadblock to victory.
Published Nov 13, 2023 | 4:46 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 13, 2023 | 4:46 PM
All three major parties are facing rebel trouble.
The three major political parties — the BRS, Congress, and BJP — locked in the electoral battle in Telangana are facing threats from rebels disenchanted over the denial of party tickets to contest the 30 November Assembly polls.
With the last date for withdrawing nominations just two days away, the political formations are seeking all means to placate the rebel candidates.
The deadline for withdrawing nominations is Wednesday, 15 November.
The presence of the rebels in the fray may eat into the official candidates’ vote share, and hence the parties are going all out, promising better opportunities, to make them withdraw from the contest.
The rebel menace is quite pronounced in the Congress, but the BJP is also battling the problem.
And the ruling BRS has not been spared either, creating roadblocks and causing tensions to rise as it seeks to ride to victory for a third time.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao himself is facing a problem — though not insurmountable — with mass nominations in Gajwel. On the last day for filing the nomination papers, 145 people had filed 154 nominations, the highest in the state.
The nominations, of course, included those of the official candidates of the major three political parties as well.
Interestingly, many of those who had filed nominations in Gajwel are the owners of Shankar Hills flats in Vattinagaulapally in the Rangareddy district. They are angry with the government over its decision to demolish the flats to expand the Outer Ring Road (ORR).
They were insisting that they have legal documents and permissions for their flats. They argued that the government neither gave compensation nor made any alternative arrangements for them.
Sugarcane farmers demanding the reopening of the Mutyampet sugar factory, too, have filed nominations. The closed sugar mill is located in Jagtial district’s Mallapur mandal.
About 30 nominations were filed by those who belong to Telangana martyrs’ families, unemployed youths, and those who had lost their lands after the Dharani portal came into existence.
The BRS leaders are sparing no efforts to make them withdraw from the contest as their presence would only mar the image of the chief minister, but could have a fallout in other segments. The leaders are contacting every one who filed nomination papers and pleading with them to withdraw from the contest.
In Peddapalli, the BRS official candidate D Manohar Reddy has N Manohar Reddy and Vivek Patel in the fray as rebels. In Madhira, official BRS candidate Lingala Kamal Raju has to battle Bammera Ramamurthy, who might split the BRS votes. In Wyra, official candidate Madan Lal has to take on BRS ticket aspirant L Haribabu. In Mulugu, BRS nominee Bade Naga Jyothi will have to watch out for trouble from P Soma Naik.
While the BRS is not without its dose of rebel problem, it is not on the scale that is dogging the Congress.
In the Congress, the problem is more severe. In Palakurhy, official candidate Mamidala Yashaswini is facing competition from former District Congress Committee (DCC) president Janga Raghava Reddy. He contested as a rebel in the last two elections and got as much votes as the Congress. There is also another Congress rebel, TPCC spokesperson Bandi Sudhakar Goud, on the electoral battlefield.
In Adilabad, the official candidate is Kandi Srinivasa Reddy, an NRI who is locally considered an outsider. Former agriculture market committee chairman Sanjiva Reddy is in the fray as a rebel. He has the backing of the party leaders in the district.
In Boath, the Congress replaced its official nominee Vannela Kishare with Ade Gajender in a last-minute rejig, which made him join the race as a rebel candidate. There is another rebel in the mix, Naresh Jadhav. In Banswada, K Balaraju who attempted suicide after learning that he was not allotted a ticket, is adamant about teaching the party a lesson.
In Suryapet, the drama continued till the last minute on the choice of a candidate. The party finally decided to sail with former minister R Damodar Reddy, leaving Patel Ramesh Reddy, who fought till the last minute, in the lurch. He is now in the fray as an All India Forward Bloc candidate.
In Narsapur, Gali Anil Kumar became a rebel, after the Congress nominated Avula Raji Reddy. Anil Kumar took out a massive rally to file his nomination papers. His supporters waved Congress flags and banners as if he was the official candidate.
In Choppadandi, Naga Shekhar, after filing his nomination papers as a rebel candidate, is campaigning using the photographs of AICC leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The official candidate is Satyam, who was reportedly selected based on survey reports.
In Dornakal, after Jalothu Ramchander Naik was named as the official candidate, Malothu Nehru Naik and Bhupal Naik defied the party diktat and filed nominations as rebel candidates.
In Paliar, Ramasahayam Madhavi Reddy, who is in the fray as a rebel, took up cudgels against Congress official candidate Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy. She was denied a ticket though she had worked for the party for the last decade, Madhavi said.
Similarly, in Pinapaka, Aswaraopet, and Illendu, there are rebels against the official Congress nominees. In Pinapaka, it is P Vijay Gandhi; in Aswaraopet, it is Sunna Nagamani; and in Illendu there are six rebels: G Ravi Naik, Ch Venkateswarlu, Mangilal Naik, Ramachader Naik, Praveen Naik, and Nagamani.
The BJP, meanwhile, is not facing too many problems on the rebel front.
In Vemulavada, former Zilla Parishad chairperson Thula Uma is in the fray as BJP rebel against the official nominee, Chenamaneni Vivek Rao, who is the son of former Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao.
In Asifabad, K Vijay Kumar is continuing as a rebel, while in Chennur, A Srinias is giving anxious moments to the party’s official candidate.
In Bellampally, there is Venkata Krishna while in Peddapally, there are three BJP rebels: G Vivek Reddy, K Sadanandam, and K Srinivasulu.
