North Telangana: BJP's Bastion Or Cliffhanger For Congress And BRS? (image: pjtsau.edu.in)
BJP“s presence in North Telangana going to be critical in the upcoming Assembly election. As per the latest reports, saffron party has high chances of play as spoilsport on at least 15-20 assembly constituencies, especially in the urban regions of northern Telangana.
North Telangana comprises 54 assembly constituencies spreading over the the districts of Medak, Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Warangal. In 2018 assembly polls, BRS secured an astonishing victory by gathering 47 seats. However, following general elections 2019, out of the four BJP secured three Lok Sabha seats from north Telangana – Adilabad, Nizamabad and Karimnagar. Furthermore, the BJP”s victory in two by polls, Dubbak and Huzurabad, after general elections 2019 are also belong to north Telangana. All three BJP MPs from northern region, are contesting as MLAs in the upcoming assembly elections.
Some of the prominent names of the saffron party in the north Telangana include Bandi Sanjay Kumar contesting in Karimnagar, Dharmapuri Arvind contesting in Koratla, and Eatala Rajender contesting in Huzurabad. As these candidates belong to Other Backward Classes (OBC) community, their representation associates with BJP”s claim that if they come to power, they will choose a Backward community member as the Chief Minister of Telangana. Besides, BJP”s effort in choosing candidates in respect to community representation can be seen, for instance, in Mulugu, a Scheduled Tribes (ST) reserved assembly constituency the party has fielded Azmeera Prahlad Naik. He belongs to the Lambada community which possess sizeable population in the segment .
The reports points that the groundwork done by the BJP, especially the state president Bandi Sanjay in last two years indicates positive responses. Many urban pockets in north Telangana likely to favour BJP.
The northern region identify with agriculturally flourished districts. Nizamabad and Adilabad are known for their farm economies, and Karimnagar, Jagtial, Peddapalli and Rajanna Siricilla are known for their industrial development along with agriculture. How will Prime Minister Narendra Modi”s announcement of of a national turmeric board going to fare in the election, especially in the districts of of Nizamabad, Nirmal and Jagtial is yet to witness.
Another high-stake battle to look forward is in Huzurabad, a cotton farming region. The region faces a three-cornered contest between, Eatala Rajender, former BRS Minister and one of closest confidante of KCR, with Congress“s Vodithala Pranav and BRS”s Padi Kaushik Reddy. Similarly, Kamareddy assembly segment in Telangana also witnesses a triangular contest between KCR and State Congress President A Revanth Reddy and BJP”s K Venkata Ramana Reddy.
