It’s BRS’s development mantra vs Congress candidate’s popularity contest in Narsampet

District: Warangal Rural

MLA: Peddi Sudarshan Reddy

Reservation: GEN

Total Voters: 2,21,977

Booths: 283

Urban Voters: 11%

Rural Voters: 89%

Male: 49.76%

Female: 50.24%

Caste & Religious Demography

Gen + BC: 66.60%

SC: 12.80%

ST: 20.60%

Hindu: 95%

Muslim: 4%

Others : 1.00%

Candidates Profile

Peddi Sudharshan Reddy (BRS)

Personal Background: He was born on August 6, 1974 and studied till SSC. He is married to Swapna and has a son and daughter. His wife Swapna is also active in politics

Political Background: He started his political career with the TRS (BRS) in 2001. He has been in the BRS since inception and is a senior leader in Warangal district. He is a good orator and has been at the forefront in developing the party in Warangal district. He is considered very close to KCR. Sudharshan contested the 2014 Assembly election on a BRS ticket but lost. However he was made the chairman of Civil Supplies Corporation. He contested again in 2018 and won this seat.

During his tenure, he earned the confidence of his voters and became extremely popular in the region by initiating various development works like bringing Godavari water to Pakhal lake for irrigation, distributing financial aid for marriage and education of poor children and distributing buffaloes to herders who lost their cattle due to floods and providing relief to any accident victims.

He has been good at attacking the NDA Government at the Centre.

Donthi Madhava Reddy (Congress)

He was born on August 16, 1961 to Narsimha Reddy. He completed his Intermediate from Government. Junior College, Narsampet in 1976. From 1981-1988, he served as a sarpanch from Ameenanabad village, Warangal District. He was also the chairman of the D.C.C.B. Warangal district from 1995-2000.

In the 2014 Assembly elections, he contested independently and won as Narasampet MLA with a majority of 76,144 votes. He joined the Congress and was appointed as in charge of the constituency. In 2018, he contested as an MLA on a Congress ticket but was defeated by Peddi Sudarshan Reddy.

Dr Kambampati Pulla Rao (BJP)

He is the head of Prataparudra Educational Institutions and is popularly known as Dr Kambhampati Prathap. Dr Prathap, who is known for his social service, joined the BJP in 2019 attracted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development model. His candidacy was formalised at the last minute.

Constituency information

Geography: It is a rural constituency and part of Mahabubabad. Six mandals are part of this constituency namely Narsampet, Khanapur, Chennaraopet, Duggondi, Nekkonda and Nallabelly.

Background: The Reddy community is very strong in this constituency as it was earlier a stronghold of the TDP. The constituency has always seen a fight between the TDP and the Congress. After the formation of Telangana in 2014, the BC community has started voting for the BRS at the expense of the TDP.

Cultural/Historical/Religious Identifiers

• Pakhal Lake
• Madannapet Lake
• Rangaya Cheruvu

2014 Assembly Election Analysis:

It was a triangular fight between the TRS, the TDP, and the Congress candidates. However, Donthi Madhava Reddy contested as an independent candidate as the Congress didn’t give him a ticket. He won the constituency securing 41.9 per cent of the votes while the Congress candidate secured only 3.6 per cent of the votes. There was a tacit understanding between him and TDP candidate Revuri Prakesh Reddy and was able to consolidate Reddy and a few BC community votes. He was also able to get more votes from the Lambadi community. He later joined the Congress. The TRS candidate secured 31.8 per cent of votes while Revuri Prakash Reddy (TDP) secured 19 per cent of votes.

2018 Assembly Election analysis

Former MLA Donthi Madhava Reddy lost the election to Peddi Sudarshan Reddy (BRS). His loss was due to lack of development works taken up in the constituency, drinking water shortage in Narsampet despite the availability of a large water reservoir (Pakal lake), lack of connectivity with the people. Peddi Sudarshan Reddy, after his loss in 2014, worked extensively in the constituency and projected the BRS welfare schemes like Rythu Bandhu, sheep distribution, Kalyan Lakshmi scheme, etc. He was able to gain the core TDP vote (BC community) with him. He was able to consolidate votes from Yadav, Gowda and Lambada communities. Peddi Sudarshan Reddy secured 50 per cent of votes while Donthi Madhava Reddy secured 42 per cent of the votes. The BJP secured less than 1 per cent of the votes.

Key Local Issues

• Podu land (shifting cultivation in forest area) issue.
• Demand for district headquarters in Narsampet.
• Demand for Government Inter and Degree College.