Jayashankar Bhupalpally: BRS candidate faces tough task as Congress, BJP field strong candidates

Hyderabad: Local people say that the development in Bhupalpally constituency has not taken place as expected. Farmers have not had their loans waived, the poor have no double-bedroom houses, and the Dalit Bandhu scheme has not been properly implemented. Tenant farmers say that they are also farmers and should be covered under Rythu Bandhu. Roads in many villages have worsened, and basic facilities are lacking. The people of the constituency are saying that this time they will vote for those who will solve their problems. Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy is contesting on the BRS ticket from this constituency. Chandupatla Keerthi Reddy is contesting from the BJP, and Gandra Satyanarayana Rao has been fielded by the Congress. The campaign is in full swing and a fierce triangular contest is on the cards.

Constituency background:

Jayashankar Bhupalpally constituency came into being in 2009 after the Sayampet constituency was abolished. Elections have been held three times since then. The constituency comprises 8 mandals: Bhupalpally, Mogullapalli, Chityala, Ghanpur, Regonda, Sayampeta, Kothapalligori, and Tekumatla. A general constituency, it is a part of the Warangal Lok Sabha constituency. There are a total of 263,452 voters, with 13% urban and 87% rural voters. Male voters make up 50.40%, female voters 49.60%. OBCs constitute 74.70%, SCs 20.30%, and STs 5%. Hindus form 96.70%, Muslims 2.60%, and others 0.7%. Bhupalpally Rural Constituency serves as the district headquarters of Bhupalpally District and is home to industries like Singareni Collieries, Kakatiya Thermal Power Plant, and small agro-based industries.

Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy - BRS

Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy has won as MLA from Bhupalpalli three times. He began his political career with the Congress Party and served as a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council from 2007 to 2009 in United Andhra Pradesh. From 2009 to 2014, he served as an MLA from Bhupalappalli constituency in Andhra Pradesh. After the formation of Telangana, he contested as Congress candidate in the 2014 Telangana General Election and lost to Telangana Rashtra Samithi Party candidate Sirikonda Madhusudanachari by a margin of 7,216 votes. He won the 2018 Telangana Assembly Elections on Congress ticket with 69,918 votes. Subsequently, Venkata Ramana Reddy left the Congress and joined the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). His wife, Gandra Jyoti, was elected as the Chairperson of Warangal Rural District Parishad in 2019. She is also a BRS leader.

Gandra Satyanarayana Rao - Congress

Gandra Satyanarayana Rao contested as an independent candidate in the 2018 Telangana elections and is contesting as a Congress candidate from Bhupalpally in 2023. In the 2009 elections, Bhupalpally was allotted to TRS as part of the alliance between TDP and TRS. Gandra Satyanarayana supported the TRS candidate. In 2014, Bhupalpally was allotted to the BJP as part of an alliance between TDP and BJP. Though Gandra Satyanarayana is from TDP, both parties agreed to field Gandra Satyanarayana as a BJP candidate. He left TDP in November 2017 and joined the TRS but resigned when the party nominated Sirikonda Madhusudanachari as its candidate for the 2018 assembly elections. Gandra ran as an independent candidate but lost. In 2021, Gandra Satyanarayana Rao joined Congress along with his supporters in the presence of TPCC president Revanth Reddy in Bhupalpally.

Chandupatla Keerthy Reddy - BJP

Chandupatla Keerthi Reddy joined the BJP in 2014 and contested the 2018 Telangana elections in Bhupalpally. She enjoys an advantage over other candidates as she is the daughter-in-law of senior BJP leader CH Jangareddy. Chandupatla Janga Reddy was the only BJP leader who defeated the Congress stalwart and former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections. Keerthy Reddy holds a Bachelor's Degree in Physiotherapy and hails from Mahbubnagar district. She is known for her effective communication skills and the engaging stories she uses during her speeches.

The political battle in this assembly constituency, formed in 2009, has mainly been between Congress and BRS. Congress has won this constituency twice in 2009 and 2018 elections.

Born on May 5, 1965, Venkata Ramana Reddy studied at Polytechnic, later starting a business and actively participating in student politics. Married to Jyoti, a prominent politician, his brother Gandra Bhupal Reddy is also active in politics. Venkata Ramana Reddy contested as MLA from INC in 2009 and won, later becoming the Chief Whip of the government in 2012. He runs a professional business and stone crushers, but there are currently four pending cases against him.

In 2014, BRS won the assembly elections due to anti-incumbency against Congress MLA Gandra Venkataramana Reddy, sympathy for BRS candidate Sirikonda Madhusudhanachari due to the Telangana agitation, and support from the Konda Surekha family. As part of the TDP-BJP alliance, this assembly constituency was allotted to BJP. However, due to a lack of cadre, TDP leader Gandra Satyanarayana Rao contested on the BJP symbol and lost.

In the 2018 assembly elections, there was fierce competition between Congress, BRS, and independent candidates. The rebel BRS candidate Gandra Satyanarayana Rao successfully split the pro-government votes and received more votes than the BRS candidate. Madhusudhana Chary’s health was not good, and he was not involved in development works, leading to his defeat. There were also allegations of land grabbing against his son Pradeep, causing an internal rift in the party. Gandra Venkatarama Reddy won with 33.5% of the votes.

Congress has a strong presence in this constituency, especially after independent candidate Gandra Satyanarayana Rao joined the Congress. BJP is actively increasing its presence, and Chandupatla Keerthi Reddy is actively campaigning. BRS candidate Gandra Venkataramana Reddy is also actively involved in the election.

"YSRTP is not contesting elections. Many leaders and activists are fond of YSR. YSRTP's vote bank is also good here. But YS Sharmila could not use it. Sharmila cheated us. She had promised us a good position in politics. People think that Gandra Satyanarayana will win the constituency. If the BRS government is formed in the state, there are more chances of Gandra Satyanarayana joining the party," said the former president of the joint Reganda Mandal YSRTP, Palleboina Tirupati.

"I will vote for Congress. There is a need to change the government. Who needs Rythu Bandhu? What we need is a minimum support price for the crop. We don't want KCR. Those who own lands are relatives of farmers. Those who take more land on rent do not have any relatives. Recently, they said that they will think about the issue of Rythu Bandhu for the farmers when the government is formed. KCR changed the name of the schemes implemented by the Congress government in united Andhra Pradesh. Now in the manifesto, both parties are making the same promises. We didn't even get a loan waiver. We vote for those who fulfill our promises. Gandra Satyanarayana has already contested twice and lost. This time the winds of sympathy are blowing towards him," said Rajitha, a female farmer.

"I am pursuing my degree. The government is not giving us a scholarship. I will vote for Congress. I want to give Gandra Satyanarayana a chance. Gandra Venkataramana Reddy has already won MLA twice. But he could not take the constituency towards development as a public representative. The government should think about reservation in government jobs. Dalits have all kinds of reservations. BC youth are not getting jobs despite getting high marks. The evaluation of the exams is also not going well," said Pravarsha, a student who is going to vote for the first time.

"BJP will win 100 percent for us. Under the leadership of Narendra Modi, Etala Rajender will become the CM. Keerthi Reddy will win as MLA from Bhupalapalli. A lotus army moved near us. BJP is sure to win here. BJP's campaign is also going on. Up to 80k people came to the Etala Rajender Sabha held the other day. All the children of BC and Mudiraj are united here," said Dontula Naresh, a BJP worker.

On the other hand, the people of many villages in the constituency are demanding that the Kono Corpus trees planted for greenery cause a lot of damage and they should be removed immediately. People are worried as the smell from these trees is harmful.

Gandra Satyanarayana Rao has maintained his image in the constituency

The people of the constituency say that Gandra Satyanarayana Rao has maintained his image in the Bhupalappalli constituency. It is said that he has hundreds of fans and followers in all mandals cutting across party lines. This is what took him to the brink of victory in the last elections. It is said that since TDP continued to be the leader, they have been protecting the workers and the leaders and workers are taking part in the hardships. There is no doubt that Congress will contribute to Josh Gandra's victory across the state along with the sympathy of the people after losing in two elections. There is strong talk that Gandra Satyanarayana Rao's victory is possible as there is wide popularity in this election and massive participation continues.