Ground Report: BSP throws down a challenge in Sirpur where people look for basic necessities

A few kilometres from Vallakonda, a stream crossed their path. At the water’s edge, the women hitch their sarees up to their knees and wade across the stream, chatting incessantly. This has become routine for them.

Rajeshwari (right) with the group of women crossing the stream. (Sumit Jha/South First)

South First caught up with the women. “This is how we cross the stream every day. It’s becoming extremely challenging without a bridge. During the rains, there is a risk of people falling into the water. We don’t know when they will approve a bridge. They say they will, but no one is taking any action,” Rajeshwari, one among them, has resigned to fate.

Two bullock carts laden with stacks of hay reached the stream, a common sight after the harvest. As the oxen struggled across the stream, the bullwhacker jumped down, whip in hand, and started pushing the cart. He kept shouting commands, and implemented most of them himself.

Rajesh, one of the bullwhacker, spoke to South First, “I am from Andavelli village and my house is on the other side of the stream, with fields on the opposite bank. If we have to take the main road, it involves a 7 km travel. When the water level in the stream is high and the current is strong, we take the main road.”

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Villagers vs officials for land

In June 2019, a disturbing incident unfolded in Sarasala village, where Kagaznagar Forest Officer Chole Anitha and her team were attacked with bamboo sticks. The assailants were led by Zilla Parishad vice-chairperson Koneru Krishna, the brother of Sirpur BRS MLA Koneru Konappa, and his supporters.

Two bullock carts trying to cross the stream while a motorcyclist awaits. (Sumit Jha/South First)

The confrontation occurred when Anitha visited Sarasala to plant saplings as part of the government’s “Haritha Haram” green initiative. A dispute arose over the land, with Krishna and his supporters claiming ownership. The situation escalated, leading to an attack on Anitha and her team.

During the altercation, Anitha’s arm was fractured and a Forest Beat Officer sustained injuries. The officer said that the land belonged to the Forest Department.

The woman officer, accompanied by 40 Forest Department personnel and 30 policemen, had arrived to undertake plantation activities on the 20-hectare degraded forest land. This initiative was part of compensatory afforestation for the land lost in the Kaleshwaram project.

The villagers, who opposed the forest personnel clearing the area for plantation, suddenly attacked the officials and even damaged the tractor brought for ploughing. The incident highlighted the challenges faced by authorities in implementing environmental conservation projects and the need to address the conflicts over land use.

Anitha, Forest Range Officer was attacked at #Kagaznagar #Telangana afforestation work for #KaleshwaramProject, Anitha says attacker is Koneru Krishna, he is ZP VC n brother of Sirpur MLA #trs #KoneruKonappa along with others.#Golisoda #ShameonTRS#TRS pic.twitter.com/z73zwrWuwS

— Goli Soda (@GoliSoda6) June 30, 2019

Later, the MLA’s brother was apprehended and booked, along with as many as 40 villagers, under Sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 307 (attempt to murder), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of ₹50), read with 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence commit­ted in the prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code.

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However, the story has a different weight when told by the villagers.

Rakesh, who was involved in conflict with the forest officials. (Sumit Jha/South First)

“I’m a farmer and I have been farming for the past 10-15 years. I have studied till Class 10. We don’t have patta lands but have chilaka (assigned lands). That year, we also planted cotton and the madam (Anitha) came there and brought a tractor to remove the plants. All the villagers had their cotton plants there, so they all came, and it turned into a fight,” explains Rakesh, one of the accused in the case, to South First.

He says it was a small issue and that she didn’t get hurt that much. “She made it a big issue and slapped cases on almost 40 of us. We went to jail for two months,” Rakesh adds.

The issue of podu land — shifting cultivation land — is a significant concern in Telangana’s forest areas, including in the Sirpur constituency, where a substantial portion of forest land is located, resulting in conflicts between the Forest Department and the residents.

A Sarsala villager who doesn’t want to be named. (Sumit Jha/South First)

“People were farming on the conflict land for years, which is adjacent to the forest land. A year before the conflict, forest officials came and put a marker beyond the cultivated land, saying that this was forest area. But people were told that this was not going to be an issue; they could still cultivate. Suddenly, one day, the forest officials came, started to plough, and this incident happened,” recounts a Sarasala villager.

“Since then, every month or two, there have been hearings in court. We are poor people; all this is costing us a lot. We wish for it all to end soon. It’s getting very difficult to manage work and the case; we are somehow managing to pay for the advocate fees from our own pockets. For a small issue, 40 of us are being punished. Even if we were just there and in the jostling around that day, she might have been hit. We wish this case to be over soon,” says Rakesh.

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A town with no facilities and its MLA

Despite the sitting MLA’s brother attempting to assist the Sarasala villagers, discontent persists among them regarding the MLA’s performance.

Rakesh says, “First of all, even though this village is situated on assigned land, it’s not registered, and we don’t know when the government will convert this village into forest land.”

He adds, “Regarding the MLA, ask anyone visiting from outside to travel between Kagaznagar and Sirpur, the two main towns in the constituency. Konappa has been the MLA for the last nine and a half years and, until now, we haven’t had the opportunity to travel from Kagaznagar to Sirpur on a good road. It shows his intention.”

The place where the Scorpio is parked is where people wait for the bus in Sirpur town. (Sumit Jha/South First)

In Sirpur town, a burqa-clad woman is beside the road carrying her bag. “I am travelling to Kagaznagar,” she informs South First.

Pointing to the roadside, she says, “This is a bus stand. There was a small bus shed a few years ago which was demolished later and, now, there is nothing. Sirpur is the main town of the constituency where all the officials of the mandal work and there are hospitals and other facilities, but there is no bus stand.”

“There are no toilets here. You would expect that at a bus stand, there would be toilets, but here, you can’t find anything. A woman has to walk to some government office to use the toilet or ask some local house. Otherwise, the next option is in Kagaznagar, which is 18 km from here,” she adds.

While a high-quality BT Road is connecting Kagaznagar and Bheemini village, travellers face a slowdown in Andevelli village near the Erravegu river.

Krishna from Andevelli village. (Sumit Jha/South First)

Krishna from Andevelli village explains to South First, “There was a bridge, but it broke three years ago during the high flow in the rainy season, and connectivity beyond the bridge was severed.”

The pillars of the bridge that had been dismantled are now being reconstructed.

According to the villagers, the original bridge was a single lane constructed through the efforts of the then-Independent MLA Palvai Purushotham Rao in the 1990s. “Around 10-15 years ago, it was expanded to two lanes and named after Purushotham Rao,” adds Krishna.

Krishna states, “For two years, people had to travel 60 km in case of an emergency. During the monsoon, the river flows at full capacity, submerging the temporary bridge. The issue affects everyone throughout the year, but it poses a serious challenge for pregnant women, particularly during the monsoon season, as visiting the hospital for childbirth becomes an arduous task.”

He points out that due to the upcoming election and the need to showcase some progress, “Konappa tried to start building this bridge again. The construction started only six months ago,” says Krishna.

Purushotham Rao’s son, Dr Palvai Harish Babu, is contesting on the BJP ticket. In the 2018 election, Harish Rao was the Congress candidate from the constituency.

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The constituency

Sirpur Assembly constituency is one of the two constituencies in Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district and the northeast constituency that borders Maharashtra.

Koneru Konappa, who is the sitting BRS MLA, had a winning stint in the Congress in 2004, and then in the BSP in 2014 and he changed his party again after K Chandrashekar Rao formed the government and came to TRS (now BRS).

Sirpur Assembly constituency. (South First)

The constituency has seen all the colours of politics from Congress to TDP to BSP to BRS. However, this time, the BJP also has a shot at winning with a huge margin as Dr Palvai Harish Babu, who was in the Congress till 2021, is also in the fray.

“When Palvai Purushotham Rao was the independent MLA from 1989 to 1999, the constituency had seen leaders we could trust, now we have hope regarding his son Harish Babu,” says Krishna.

Palvai Purushotham Rao was gunned down inside his party office by Maoists on 15 September 1999. Palvai Rajyalaxmi, his wife, became the MLA after her husband died on the TDP’s ticket. Interestingly, she had defeated the current MLA Konappa, who had contested as a Congress candidate.

While the Congress has fielded Raavi Srinivas, his chances appear bleak. “No one properly knows him; he started campaigning after his name was announced. Before that, many people were not aware of this person,” says a Sirpur voter.

In this election, the dark horse is the BSP Telangana chief Dr RS Praveen Kumar, a former IPS officer who left service in 2021 and started working with the BSP in the state, building a ground for himself across the state. However, hailing from Jogulamba Gadwal district, Kumar chose to contest from the constituency after a woman during a padayatra asked him to be her representative.

The bridge, last year. (Sourced)

As his popularity grows in the constituency, some are becoming skeptical as he carries identity politics on his shoulders. “We know he is a good person and his track record for residential schools shows that, but he also does caste politics and, as of now, only speaks about Dalits. We fear that if he gets elected, there will be cases of atrocities on BCs and OCs,” says a man from Sarasala village.

When asked if there are any atrocities against the SC-ST community in the constituency, the man quickly replies, “No, no, it’s not like that; we just fear.” When further questions are asked about the absence of a culture of atrocities against Dalits and tribals, he diverts the topic and begins discussing the 12 November incident.

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Konappa vs Praveen Kumar

The incident in Kagaznagar on 12 November involved a longstanding leader in the constituency, Koneru Konappa, and a person disrupting the status quo, RS Praveen Kumar. During a public meeting that evening in Kagaznagar, two campaign vehicles affiliated with Konappa stopped near the venue and played loud music. Kumar asked the driver to move, an argument ensued, and a fight broke out between the two parties, as described by a villager.

The bridge that is now being constructed. (Sumit Jha/South First)

Later that night, Kumar staged a protest outside Kagaznagar police station, ensuring that a case was filed against Konappa and his supporters. The police registered a case against Konappa and other BRS members under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 109 (punishment of abetment, if the act abetted, is committed in consequence and when no express provision is made for its punishment), 294B (obscene acts and songs), and 171F (punishment for undue influence or personation at an elec­tion), all read with Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

The next day, the police filed a case against Kumar, his son, and his followers under the same sections of IPC 307 and 506. Both parties alleged that the other had disrupted the event, but for the people, Kumar was seen as someone who stood his ground.

“He was an IPS officer; he knows the law and can understand the problems of the people,” says a Muslim woman from Sirpur.

In Sirpur, the contest is three-cornered, with Konappa leveraging his decades-long contacts and resources to seek re-election, Dr. Harish Babu fighting based on his father’s work, and Kumar aiming to earn the trust of the Telangana people and showcase his capabilities if elected.