ADILABAD: Old Adilabad district which is considered a backward district and with a low literacy rate is truly advanced as it promotes women in politics in the state. As many as eight women candidates of the major political parties Congress, BJP, TRS and BSP, BLF (Bahujan Left Front) are contesting from various Assembly constituencies in old Adilabad.
This is the highest number of women contesting from any district in the state. All eight women candidates are contesting against men candidates in their Assembly constituencies.
Among them, five women candidates are contesting from general seats, two from ST constituencies and one from an SC constituency. This shows the high political awareness among women in the district. In ST reserved constituencies, women candidates are facing candidates of their own community.
Gandrath Sujatha of the Congress from Adilabad, Kova Laxmi of the TRS from Asifabad, Surepalli Sujatha of the BSP from Chennur, Swarna Reddy of the BJP and Aluvelu Manga of the BLF from Nirmal, Ajmeera Rekha Naik of the TRS from Khanapur, Rama Devi of the BJP and Surekha Rathod of the BSP from Mudhole constituencies are contesting in the present elections from old Adilabad district.
Women population and their votes are also high in Old Adilabad district. All these women candidates are highly qualified and some of them are professionals.
There are three doctorates among the seven woman candidates and two are academicians - assistant professor Surepalli Sujatha and Dr Rama Devi. The third is Dr Swarna Reddy, a practicing doctor in Nirmal.
Surepalli Sujatha is fighting against Balka Suman who is contesting for the first time from Chennur. He is the Peddapalli MP. Social activist and academician Sujatha is new to mainstream politics and is contesting for the first time as an MLA.
Rama Devi of the BJP stood in the second place in the 2014 elections. Now, she is fighting against Rama Rao Patel of the Congress and Vittal Reddy of the TRS. Gandrath Sujatha is a senior politician, working as a general secretary of the TPCC and contesting from Adilabad against caretaker minister Jogu Ramanna and Payal Shankar of the BJP.
Rekha Naik is a sitting MLA and contesting against Rathod Ramesh of te Congress and Satla Ashok of the BJP from Khanapur reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
Kova Laxmi of the TRS is the sitting MLA and daughter of the late Kotnak Bheem Rao who was the first tribal minister in united Andhra Pradesh. She is contesting against Atram Sakku of the Congress, Kotnak Vijay of the TJS and Ramu Naik of the BSP. Surekha Rathod of the BSP is contesting from Mudhole and is new to politics.
Gandrath Sujatha contesting from Adilabad said that women can also work like men and sometimes even more, if they are given chances. Surepalli Sujatha contesting from Chennur said that women are not inferior to anybody and have been fighting for equal rights for both. Voters should not underestimate women candidates.
