Hyderabad: The Gajwel Assembly seat in Medak has become one of the most keenly watched segments in the country as Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K. Chandrashekar Rao is contesting for an Assembly seat from here for the first time in 10 years with an eye on becoming the first chief minister of Telangana.
Also, this is the first time he is contesting from his home district, Medak, ever since launching the TRS in 2001 with a goal of achieving a Telangana state.
However, the general mood of the public in Gajwel is quite surprising. Several people feel that Mr Rao is taking a “big risk” by choosing Gajwel, where the TRS has never been a political force to reckon with. The party has always been in third position here after the Congress and the TD. They opine that it would have been safer if Mr Rao had opted for Siddipet, which is a TRS bastion.
In fact, the TRS has never contested the Gajwel seat. In 2004, it gave it to its alliance partner Congress and in 2009, to the TD as part of the “grand alliance”.
TRS supporters in the segment, however, dismiss these arguments pointing out that there has been a sea change in the public perception of KCR after the bifurcation of state and there is no point in comparing TRS with the position held by it earlier.
“KCR is a daring and dynamic politician. He can win from any constituency in Telangana. This has been proved time and again. He won from neighbouring districts Karimnagar and Mahbubnagar earlier. This was when the Telengana state was not achieved. Now that Telangana is a reality, imagine the support Mr Rao will get in Medak, which is his home district,” said D. Sravan Kumar, a bank employee in Gajwel. However, some people say that in Gajwel , it’s always the parties that matter more than the people.
“Gajwel's political scenario is always dominated by the Congress and the TD. Both have strong cadre bases which TRS lacks. No other party could survive here over the years. The one new thing that happened to the TRS, after Mr Rao announced his candidature from here, was that some lower rung leaders from the TD and the BJP switched sides to the TRS. The party can now build its organisational base slowly but the time is not sufficient since hardly five days are left for polling,” said P. Ajitha, a degree student.
Mr Rao has been avoiding Assembly polls since 2004 and had opted for Lok Sabha seats in Karimnagar in 2004 and Mahbubnagar in 2009 and won.
However, in the changed circumstances with the bifurcation of the state, Mr Rao returned to the Assembly fray giving indications that he will occupy the top post in the new Telangana state if TRS wins.
On the other hand, he has also filed nomination for the Medak Lok Sabha seat, giving rise to speculations that he wants to play a ‘key role’ in coalition politics at the Centre if the TRS fails to form the government in the state.
With Mr Rao busy touring the T-region seeking votes for his party, his nephew and sitting Siddipet MLA T. Harish Rao has been running the show at Gajwel. He has already deployed several of his followers who are striving hard to ensure victory for Mr Rao. He is absolutely confident of Mr Rao winning with a thumping majority and the rival parties fighting to retain their deposits.
“KCR’s win in Gajwel is a foregone conclusion. The issue here is just about majority. As per our surveys, KCR will win with a majority of 40,000 to 50,000 votes. One should realise that these elections are different since they are being held after Telangana state has been achieved. For people it’s KCR who achieved Telangana and only that matters. The other things like TRS having no strong cadre base is immaterial at this stage,” Mr Harish Rao said.
The Gajwel seat is currently held by Congress candidate T. Narsa Reddy. However, experts say that the main fight will be between TD’s V. Prathap Reddy and Mr Rao due to the anti-incumbency factor.
