Congress, BJP make desperate bid to grab Maheshwaram seat from Sabitha Indra Reddy

Assembly Constituency- Maheshwaram

District: Ranga Reddy

MLA: Patlolla Sabitha Indra Reddy (BRS )

Reservation: GEN

Total Voters: 4,92,168

Booths: 511

Urban Voters: 86%

Rural Voters: 15%

Male: 52.55%

Female:47.45%

Caste & Religious Demography

• Gen + OBC: 85.60%
• SC: 10.40%
• ST: 3.90%
• Hindu: 85%
• Muslim: 12.00%
• Others: 3.00%

Candidates

Patlolla Sabitha Indra Reddy (BRS)

Sabitha Indra Reddy was born on May 5, 1963 in Medak to Mahipal Reddy and Venkamma. She was married to P Indra Reddy, a popular mass leader in Telangana (four-time MLA, Minister and founder of Jai Telangana Party). The couple have three sons. Sabitha entered into politics after her husband died in a car accident. She contested on the INC ticket in the by-election in 2000 and won Chevella Assembly against Kichannagari Laxma Reddy (KLR), who is an industrialist and politician.

In the 2004 Assembly elections, she won as an MLA from Chevella with a majority of 41,585 votes. Consequently, YS Rajasekhara Reddy inculcated her into the Cabinet as Minister for Mines and Geology. In the 2009 Assembly elections, she contested from the newly formed Maheshwaram Assembly and was re-elected as an MLA. Sabitha became the first woman Home Minister in the country during the second term of the INC Government. Owing to the INC's decision of 'one family one ticket', she was denied a ticket in 2014 as her son, Karthik Reddy, contested as an MP candidate from Chevella.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, she contested in Mahehswaram on the INC ticket and won in spite of a TRS wave in the State. Subsequently, she moved to the TRS and was made a Minister for Education in K Chandrashekar Rao's Cabinet. After 23 years, Sabitha is going to face KLR in Maheshwaram in the 2023 Assembly elections.

Kitchannagari Laxma Reddy (INC)

Laxma Reddy was born in 1956 in Hyderabad. His father Konda Reddy was a farme. He pursued his graduation in B.Sc at NB Science College and masters from Osmania University. After completing his education, he founded KLR Industries Ltd in 1984. Apart from being a successful businessman, he is also an active politician. He joined the INC in 2008 and contested the 2009 Assembly elections from the Medchal constituency. Laxma Reddy won the election with a margin of over 20,000 votes and became an MLA.

He supported the fast-unto-death undertaken by KCR in 2009 to pressurise the Union Government to grant statehood for Telangana. After the formation of Telangana in 2014, Laxma Reddy continued to be an MLA from Medchal. He was also appointed as the chairman of the Telangan State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC). In the 2018 Assembly elections, Laxma Reddy contested from Medchal and retained his seat with a margin of over 40,000 votes. In October 2023, citing personal reasons he resigned from his position as the chairman of the TSIIC and thanked KCR for giving him the opportunity.

Andela Sri Ramulu Yadav (BJP)

Sri Ramulu Yadav is contesting for the second time as an MLA candidate from Maheshwaram against Sabitha Indra Reddy in the coming elections. In the 2018 Assembly elections, he secured as many as 39,445 votes and was defeated in Maheshwaram.

Geography: Maheswaram is a village and mandal in Ranga Reddy district in Telangana. The region mainly depends on agriculture, rain water and ground water. The main crops cultivated are paddy, cotton, corn, chilli, turmeric, and ground nut.

Assembly constituency information

Maheshwaram Assembly constituency was formed just before the 2009 Assembly elections as per the Delimitation Act of 2002. Maheswarm, Kandukur and Saroornagar (part) mandals are part of this constituency. The constituency is dominated by Goud, Muslims and Reddys Settlers from other states are also more in this constituency.

Cultural / Historical / Religious Identifiers

• Raja Rajeshwari temple
• Shiva and Parvathi temple of 15th Century
• Akkanna Sarai (Fort), Maheshwaram

2014 Assembly Election Analysis:

• In the 2014 Assembly elections, the TDP won Maheshwaram seat with backing from the BCs (Gouds and Munnur Kapu) and settlers from Andhra Pradesh. T Veerander Goud son of ex- Home Minister Devender Goud contested as an MP and gave an additional edge to the Assembly candidate. The BJP also had a certain core vote bank of around 10,000 votes which became an additional advantage to the TDP.
• The INC stood second and secured around 62,000 votes in the elections and maintained its traditional voter base.
• The TRS secured as many as 42,000 votes, lack of leadership and organisational presence and the polarization among settlers and locals were the reasons for poor performance.

2018 Assembly Election Analysis:

• In 2015, sitting MLA T Krishna Reddy defected to the TRS. He faced a huge anti-incumbency for not performing.
• Sabith Indra Reddy again contested from this Assembly and she was able to consolidate her supporters and vote bank which earlier was divided. She has extensively worked on the ground when she was in opposition.
• Another reason for Sabitha's victory was that TDP leader T Veerader Goud joined the BJP. Earlier, the TDP had clout for 20,000 votes and internal squabbles between Krishna Reddy and other leaders in the TRS.
• The BJP secured as many as 39,400 votes in this election

Current Situation

• Currently, the situation is in favour of Sabitha Indra Reddy.
• Both the INC and the BJP have increased the ground activity with various programs in the constituency

Key Local Issues

• Lack of tourism development near Raja Rajeshwari Temple
• Reviving Heritage temples in the constituency
• NTR Nagar housing lands Scheme