Babu Mohan receives shock from son, local man Kranthi fights Congress senior Damodar Raj Narsimha in Andole

Assembly Constituency: Andole (SC)

District: Medak

MLA: Kranthi Kiran Chanti (Mala)

Reservation: SC

Total Voters: 2,28,399

Booths: 313

Urban Voters: 6%

Rural Voters:94%

Male: 50%

Female: 50%

Caste & Religious Demography:

• Gen + OBC: 72.8%

• SC: 22%

• ST: 5.2%

• Hindu:87.6%

• Muslim: 11.1%

• Others: 1.3%

Candidates:

Kranti Kiran Chanti (BRS)

Kranti Kiran was born on December 12, 1976 at Pothulaboguda to Chanti Bhoomaiah and Chanti Komuramma. He is married to Padmavathi and has one son. He did his LLB and was a journalist in electronic media before jumping into the political arena. He was member of the ZPTC in Ramachandrapuram in 2006. He joined the TRS (now BRS) in 2009 after a brief stint with the Congress.

Damodar Raj Narsimha (Congress)

Cilarapu Damodar Raja Narasimha was born on December 5, 1958, in a Dalit family in Medak district to Congress politician Raja Narsimha and Janabai. Narasimha is married to Padmini. They have a daughter. His father served as an MLA representing Andole thrice. Narasimha graduated as an engineer. Following the death of his father, Narasimha gave up his dream of becoming a bureaucrat and entered politics. Narasimha began his political career in 1989 when he was elected as an MLA from the Andole (SC) constituency on a Congress ticket. He lost subsequent elections until winning again in 2004, and later in 2009. In 2004, Narasimha joined YS Rajasekhar Reddy's Cabinet as a Minister for Primary Education. In 2009, he was appointed Minister for Marketing and Warehousing. Narasimha became Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on June 10, 2011, and served until April 2014.

P Babu Mohan (BJP)

Pally Babu Mohan was born in Beerolu, Khammam district. His father was a teacher. Mohan is married to Indira Vijaya Lakshmi. Their eldest son, Pally Pavan Kumar, died in a road accident on October 12, 2003. Babu Mohan worked as a Government employee in the revenue department of Andhra Pradesh. He later left this job to pursue his interest in films. Babu Mohan worked as a comedian in Telugu films and is a former Minister for Labour in Andhra Pradesh. He won the Nandi Award for Best Male Comedian for his role in Mamagaru.

A staunch supporter of N. T. Rama Rao from his early days, he joined the TDP . He was first elected as an MLA in the 1998 by-elections retained the seat in 1999 from the Andole Assembly constituency and served as a Minister in Chandrababu Naidu's cabinet. However, he lost to the previous Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha in 2004 and 2009. In the year 2014, he quit the TDP to join BRS.

In the 2014 general elections, he won again as an MLA from the same constituency against Damodar Raja Narasimha. Later in the year 2018, he joined the BJP. On October 28, 2023, he announced that he would be resigning from the party, citing insult and deliberate exclusion. But finally, he was nominated to contest for Andole.

Assembly constituency information:

• Andole is geographically a vast constituency, consisting of Tekmal, Alladurgh, Regode, Raikode, Andole, Pulkal and Munpalle mandals.
• From 1952 to 1961 it was a general constituency, and in 1962 it was converted to a SC reserved constituency.
• A total of 16 elections happened in this constituency and 12 of them after it became a SC reserved constituency.
• The Congress has won the Constituency eight times, , four times by the TDP (including one by-election), two times by the BRS, and two times by others.
• C Raja Narasimha and his son Damodar Raja Narsimha have won this constituency over six times
• Babu Mohan won this constituency thrice, in 1998 and 1999 from the TDP and 2014 from the BRS.
• All the candidates who won elections in this seat are not natives of this constituency.
• In the recent Assembly election, journalist turned politician Kranti Kiran who is a native of the Andole constituency, in the election.

MLA Profile:

Political background: Kranti Kiran Chanti started his political career with the Congress. He was elected to the local body as a member of ZPTC in 2006 in Ramachandrapuram. He expected an MLA ticket in 2009 from the Congress, but he was unsuccessful in getting a ticket. He then contested as an independent and lost the election. He joined the BRS in 2009, he actively participated in the Telangana agitation. In the 2018 Assembly elections, he was offered the MLA ticket from the Andole Assembly by the BRS.

Cadre strength: He is building his cadre post-2018 Assembly elections.

Financial strength: Not so strong

Cultural

• Tumbureswara Temple in Tekmal mandal.

• Manjeera Dam,

• Singur Dam

2014 Assembly analysis

There was a tight fight between the Congress and the BRS.

BRS candidate Babu Mohan won with a majority of 3,291 votes.

BJP secured 3,062 votes.

Congress core voter group and the traders' community voted for the BRS.

TDP vote bank of the BC groups shifted to the BRS.

2018 Assembly analysis:

The Incumbent P Babu Mohan was inaccessible to people, he didn't care for the party cadre and there was a lot of resentment among the cadre to change the candidate.

There is a sentiment that all the MLAs were outsiders not bothering about the development of Andole.

Catching this sentiment the BRS fielded a fresh, young, and local face Kranti Kiran, who was successful in his election.

The BRS, vote consisted of BC groups.

The BJP fielded Babu Mohan, but he got fewer votes compared to the 2014 elections.

Damador Raj Narsimha retained his vote bank, which consists of Reddies, SCs and STs.

Current situation:

• BJP leader Uday Babu Kumar, the son of the BJP candidate Babu Mohan, joined the BRS in the presence of Telangana Finance and Health Minister T Harish Rao.

• Uday Babu was initially expected to contest as a BJP candidate from Andole and had campaigned for the party on the promise of receiving a ticket.

• However, the BJP leadership denied him the ticket and instead gave it to his father, Babu Mohan.

• This decision, along with other differences between Uday Babu and his father, led to dissatisfaction and he ultimately quit the party.

• Although sitting MLAs are accessible to people and have a good public image, the general perception of the rising anti-government image may hamper chances.

• Damodar Raj Narsimha increased his ground presence across the constituency and reached out to the cadre and public on a regular basis.

• The BJP has minimal presence in the constituency.

Key local issues:

1. JNTU land acquisition and employment issue

2. Vattipalli lift irrigation project

3. Gundala village, Tekmal Mandal- lift irrigation project

4. Jogipet bus depot

5. Tumbureswara temple development

6. Basic facilities at Singur project to make it a tourist spot