Medak: Riding on the back of the success of separate Telangana agitation, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to sail through in Medak parliamentary constituency in the general elections.
The TRS president represented Mahabubnagar in the outgoing Lok Sabha, but chose to contest from Medak, his native district, this time. He is also contesting from Gajwel Assembly seat in Medak district.
Medak was once represented by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and expelled TRS MP Vijayashanti represented the constituency in the outgoing Lok Sabha.
Vijayashanti joined the Congress after the passage of the Telangana Bill in Parliament and is now contesting from Medak Assembly segment.
Medak district had been a stronghold for separate Telangana agitation and the TRS, though five, among seven, Assembly segments in the district are held by Congress in the outgoing Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
The seven Assembly constituencies under Medak Lok Sabha seat are - Medak, Siddipet, Dubbak, Narsapur, Gajwel, Patancheru, and Sangareddy.
Siddipet is a TRS stronghold with Chandrasekhar Rao himself and his nephew Harish Rao representing it in the AP Assembly during the last several years.
The TRS president has not addressed any public meeting in the constituency so far, though he is expected to do so in the next couple of days.
Harish Rao, known for his oratory and managerial skills, is campaigning in the constituency to turn the tide in favour of his uncle.
"We are mainly looking at the margin of victory (of the TRS president)," Harish Rao said. However, the BJP candidate Ch Narendranath, who unsuccessfully contested on Congress ticket in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, is striving hard to make it difficult for Chandrasekhar Rao.
Narendranath is banking on the charitable activities, like mass marriages, organised by the trust run by him to win over the voters. "The welfare activities like mass marriages, scholarships and financial assistance for poor would ensure my victory. I am regularly in touch with the people and it will be an added advantage to me," Narendranath said.
The BJP nominee, supported by TDP as part of the alliance between the two parties, banks on the 'Modi factor' and the saffron party's consistent support for separate Telangana demand and his personal influence in the constituency.
Meanwhile, the Congress candidate Shravan Kumar Reddy is seen as a political greenhorn, though he counts on the support of the sitting party legislators in Sangareddy,
Narsapur, Patancheru, Dubbak, Gajwel and may not let it go easily for TRS without a spirited fight. "Medak is a traditional bastion of Congress and the welfare and development activities of the state and central governments and granting separate statehood for Telangana would ensure my victory. People are not ready to believe the propaganda of TRS. Moreover, I am a native of Dubbak mandal," Shravan Reddy said.
Vijayashanti is also expected to cast an influence on the voters as she fights from Medak Assembly constituency as the Congress candidate.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Vijayashanti (TRS) defeated Narendranath of Congress by a margin of over 6,000 votes.
The total number of voters in Medak district as on April nine was 21,99,810. Among them, the number of male and female voters is 11,11,030 and 10,88,650, respectively. The others are 130.
According to some media reports, young voters hold the key in Medak Assembly constituency as those in the age group of 18 and 29 are about 7.5 lakh and those between 18 and 19 about 75,000.
Simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and undivided Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly would be held in Telangana region on April 30.
