Tandur: How BRS sitting MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy is fighting many demons within his party

Telangana: Too many demons don't know what to fight seems to be the Ideal case of BRS sitting MLA from Tandur Pilot Rohit Reddy. He is trying his luck for the second time.

In Tandur, it is not a straight fight between the BRS and Congress. First-time MLA Rohit has many demons within the BRS party to first tackle.

Congress has fielded former ZPTC Chairman and the current DCCB Chairman, Buyyani Manohar Reddy - an industrialist against Rohit Reddy. Manohar Reddy who was with BRS until the Congress announced the list, resigned from the party but not from the DCCB post.

Known to many, the Buyyani family hails from Pargi, the adjacent assembly constituency in Vikarabad. The family owns rice mills and fertilizer industries. Manohar Reddy's brother Buyyani Srinivas Reddy owns an alcohol factory and is a business partner to Congress' Paleru candidate Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy. The family does have strong Congress connections. Though many candidates pushed their profile for the Tandur seat, TPCC president A Revanth Reddy chose Manohar Reddy. Both BRS and Congress candidates are local to the district. The BJP has fielded Nemuri Shankar Goud as part of its Jana Sena alliance. He has not made an impact on the ground.

Tandur, which is located in the South-West corner of Telangana and shares its border with Maharashtra and Karnataka is a mini-trade-center for small-time business doers for three states. Known for its stones and yellow dal, the district is bereft of basic civic issues.

Patnam Mahender Reddy Vs Rohit Reddy

At the flag end of the BRS government and a month before the state went into an election mode, Patnam Mahender Reddy, who earlier served as Telangana's transport minister, was once again made a minister in a hush-hush manner. He has been assured that he will retain his portfolio if the BRS government comes to power. The BRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao smelt the rat, indeed. There were intelligence reports that Mahender Reddy, who was not given a Tandur ticket in 2023, might switch sides with the Congress ahead of the elections. This move would largely benefit the Congress in 3 assembly seats if not four in the Vikarabad district. The rivalry between the young pilot and Mahender Reddy is age-old and known to the entire district.

A source who wanted to remain anonymous said, "Overnight, we see many followers of Minister Mahender Reddy joining the Congress. By this, the BRS cadre is slimming in Tandur. Those who rallied with Rohit on an evening are seen brushing shoulders with Congress candidate Manohar Reddy the next morning. Though Rohit and Mahender Reddy play to the gallery that all is well, internally there is war between them. While Mahender Reddy wants his son to take his political legacy forward, Rohit Reddy cut it short by defeating him in 2018".

NewsMeter has learned that the Congress candidates in Pargi, Tandur, and Kodangal assembly seats are Patnam Mahender Reddy's associates. However, on the other end, the sword is hanging over Mahender Reddy, as his brother and BRS sitting MLA Patnam Narender Reddy is pitched against Congress candidate A Revanth Reddy in Kodangal.

To corner Revanth Reddy in Kodangal, the BRS has stationed 5 senior leaders in Kodangal including the recent turncoat Kasani Gnaneshwar to target the BC voters. Mahender Reddy leads the team intending to defeat Revanth Reddy.

Tandur far away from development

Unlike the state highways connecting Karimnagar and Khammam districts, the main road from Kodangal to Tandur is filled with 100-meter craters making it extremely difficult for frequent inter-district travelers.

The bridge leading to the Tandur Police Station is age-old and cannot take the growing traffic load. Many interior villages in Tandur are subjected to water and air pollution owing to three cement, mining, and laterite industries. Education - government schools are the most neglected.

"It is incorrect to say that Tandur has not seen development. I was elected in 2018 and ended up on a Congress ticket, while 2019 went past in me settling issues within and outside the party. Among the 12 Congress MLAs to join the BRS, I was the last one to move. An MLA needs the support of the entire machinery to execute projects and if you are in the opposition, no one will even lift your calls. For the development of Tandur, I had to join the BRS. And then it was two years of COVID. It was only in 2022, that projects began.

Today, the Tandur Hospital is considered the best for its medical services. I pushed for many highway projects at the center. Over Rs 1680 crores were pumped by the BRS government and I have prepared a book explaining the works carried out. Regarding unemployment issues, we first need to create an infrastructure. Unless we have industries established, employment cannot be generated,” Pilot Rohit Reddy told NewsMeter.

Tandur assembly seats have close to 2.5 lakh voters and it is house to over 70,0000 minorities. The area is highly population with people from the Mudiraj Community. The Vikarabad district has four assembly constituencies- Pargi, Tandur, Vikarabad (reserved), and Kodangal. In three out of four assembly seats, the BRS and Congress picked a Reddy Vs Reddy Candidate in a district having a high population of Backward castes.

In Kodangal - its TPCC President and Malkajgiri MP A Revanth Reddy Vs Patnam Narender Reddy (the current BRS Sitting MLA and the brother of BRS Minister Patnam Mahender Reddy).

In Tandur it is BRS sitting MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy Vs first-timer Buyyani Manohar Reddy. While in Pargi is it Koopula Mahesh Reddy VS T Ram Mohan Reddy?