Why KCR chose Kamareddy as second seat for Telangana polls

The decision of Bharat Rashtra Samithi president and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to contest the upcoming assembly elections in the state from two constituencies has kicked up a debate in the state political circles.

Long ago in 2004, KCR, as the chief minister is popularly called, had contested from two constituencies – for Siddipet assembly constituency and Medak Lok Sabha constituency. He had quit the assembly seat and retained the Medak MP seat to become a minister in the Manmohan Singh cabinet.

At that time, Lok Sabha and assembly elections were held simultaneously in Telangana. In 2018, KCR as chief minister decided to delink the two polls and dissolved the state assembly so that state assembly elections can be held in November-December with Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram.

This is, however, for the time that he has decided to contest from two assembly constituencies –Gajwel in Siddipet district which he is presently representing and Kamareddy in the district of the same name.

Changing the constituencies is not a new practice for KCR. He won the assembly elections from Siddipet constituency for five consecutive terms from 1985 to 2004. After retaining the Medak Lok Sabha seat in 2004, he quit the Siddipet assembly seat for his nephew T Harish Rao. In 2006, he quit the Medak LS seat and contested from Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat and won it.

In 2009, he shifted his Lok Sabha constituency to Mahabubnagar. In 2014, he returned to the state assembly by winning the assembly seat from Gajwel, which he retained in December 2018 elections as well.

In the last nine years, Gajwel, being the chief minister’s constituency, witnessed unprecedented development in all aspects – widened roads, ultramodern government buildings, market yards, hospitals and commercial establishments.

Besides, the government pumped in hundreds of crores in construction of irrigation canals and implementation of welfare schemes like double-bedroom houses and Dalit Bandhu in a big way.

“As Gajwel was developed as a model constituency for the entire state, there is no way the BRS would lose in this constituency in the elections. So, it was not totally unexpected that the chief minister would move to a different constituency this time. But what surprised us was his decision to contest from two places,” a BRS functionary said on condition of anonymity.

Why Kamareddy Constituency?

According to the BRS leader quoted above, there had been a talk in the party that KCR had shortlisted two constituencies – Kamareddy and Peddapalli, to contest the elections, but he finally chose the first one.

According to political analyst and author Sriram Karri, the chief minister might have chosen to contest from Kamareddy after surveys commissioned by him indicated that the BRS would be facing a tough situation in the constituency.

“Clearly, it appears the anti-incumbency swelling and pushing the opposition Congress party to a pole position in Telangana. Even Gajwel, KCR’s own backyard, is not beyond risk. He is understood to have finally chosen Kamareddy, after getting surveys done across four to five other constituencies,” Karri said.

Former Congress minister Mohd Ali Shabbir, who represented Kamareddy in the past, said the BRS president had chosen the constituency only after getting the reports that sitting MLA Gampa Goverdhan was sure to lose in the coming elections. “In the last elections, Goverdhan won the seat with a slender margin of around 5,000 votes. This time, he is bound to get defeated,” Shabbir said.

Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy said KCR had chosen to contest from Kamareddy only because he was not confident of retaining his Gajwel seat. “He doesn’t want to take risk; hence, he has decided to fight in two places,” Reddy said.

KCR’s daughter and BRS lawmaker Kalvakuntla Kavitha rubbished these charges. “It is ridiculous to say that KCR is afraid of being defeated. He is one leader in the country, who can contest from any seat and win easily. He has been the only invincible leader in Telangana,” she said.

Kavitha added that there is a strategy behind KCR choosing to contest from Kamareddy. “It is a conscious and strategic decision to contest from Kamareddy, apart from Gajwel,” she said.

According to another BRS functionary, KCR’s strategy could be to clear the pitch for the victory of Kavitha from Nizamabad parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha elections scheduled in April 2024.

Kamareddy assembly segment, though technically part of Zaheerabad parliamentary constituency, is very close to Nizamabad, from where Kavitha had lost to BJP candidate Dharmapuri Arvind in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Though the BRS (then Telangana Rashtra Samithi) won all the assembly segments falling under Nizamabad LS seat, Kavitha lost to the BJP candidate by a margin of over 70,000 votes.

“This time, too, surveys commissioned by the party indicate that it would have a tough time in Nizamabad and Zaheerabad Lok Sabha constituencies and the assembly segments falling under them. So, KCR doesn’t want to take any risk. If he contests from Kamareddy, it will have a huge impact on the assembly segments under Nizamabad and Zaheerabad LS constituencies,” the BRS leader said.

There is also a talk within the BRS that if the party comes to power in the state for the third successive term, KCR might resign from both the assembly seats and focus on national politics, by leaving the mantle to his son K T Rama Rao.

“In such a scenario, KCR might contest from Zaheerabad parliamentary constituency in 2024 elections. As part of the strategy, he might have chosen to contest from Kamareddy now, so that it would be easier for him to win in the Lok Sabha elections,” the party leader added.