Political bigwigs may not be in the fray for Medak parliamentary constituency this time, yet its association with stalwarts like none other than Indira Gandhi in the past, who was elected from the seat in 1980 and became the Prime Minister for the third time, makes it a prestigious one to contest and represent.
Known as a major industrial hub for its sheer location abutting the Capital of Telangana on the northern and eastern sides, the constituency boasted a majority of all industries in the State till they started spreading to other areas. Water and air pollution caused by pharmaceutical and other chemical industrial units and increasing realty value of land has forced many such units to shut shop and relocate during the past two decades.
Although 44 candidates are in the fray this time, the main contest is between three major parties — Congress, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — represented by fairly newcomers, if not the political novices. BRS candidate P. Venkatrama Reddy is a sitting MLC of the party who quit as the District Collector of Siddipet in November 2021 to be elected to the Council in the MLAs’ quota the same year.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader T. Harish Rao campaigning with the party’s candidate for Medak Lok Sabha seat P. Venkatarama Reddy. | Photo Credit: By Arrangement
Similarly, BJP candidate M. Raghunandan Rao was an MLA from Dubbak till 2023 after he won the by-election in November 2020 following the death of a sitting BRS MLA. He contested the Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 election too and had to be satisfied with the third position. On the other hand, Congress candidate Neelam Madhu was in the fray for the Patancheru Assembly seat in 2023 on behalf of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) after being denied ticket by the BRS first and the Congress later.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Medak Parliament Constituency with Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate for the Lok Sabha seat M. Raghunandan Rao. | Photo Credit: MOHD ARIF
At the outset, the BRS looks sitting pretty having won six out of seven Assembly segments in December 2023 but the ruling Congress, which has not won the seat since 1999, is leaving no stone unturned to wean away support from BRS by employing all tactics and resources at its disposal.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and TPCC working president T. Jayaprakash Reddy with the party’s candidate for Medak Lok Sabha seat Neelam Madhu at a road show in Medak District. | Photo Credit: MOHD ARIF
The BRS campaign is spearheaded by a mercurial leader known as a trouble-shooter in the party — T. Harish Rao — who has taken it upon his shoulders to work for the party candidate’s win. In the recent Assembly elections, BRS had polled over 2.48 lakh more votes than Congress in the seven segments.
Campaign-wise, BRS is ahead of the two major rival parties with Mr. Harish Rao criss-crossing the constituency along with the party leaders almost every day since the candidate was finalised and at regular intervals even before that in the name of preparatory meetings.
The BRS has been highlighting the unkept promises of the Congress government, issues in agriculture sector and also the talk of reorganisation of districts to remove Siddipet as a district, while the Congress and BJP are banking on the “achievements” of their governments and popularity of their leaderships.
Apart from what the candidates/parties are to offer to the constituency and its people, BRS nominee Mr. Venkatrama Reddy is trying to win over people in his individual capacity too.
He said, “I know the constituency and needs of the people better than my rivals by virtue of working in the area in different capacities as a public servant for about a decade. I want to establish a trust with ₹100 crore fund to help the educational needs of meritorious children from poor families as I strongly believe that it is education that brings about real change.”
