Manohar Reddy set for hattrick in Peddapalli, Congress fighting, BJP struggling for a foothold

Assembly Constituency : Peddapalli

District: Peddapalli

MLA: Manohar Reddy Dasari (Reddy)

Total Voters: 2,45,774

Booths: 290

Urban Voters: 14.%

Rural Voters: 86%

Male: 51%

Female: 49%

Caste & Religious Demography:

• Gen + OBC: 81.5%

• SC: 17.5%

• ST: 1%

• Hindu: 93.7%

• Muslim: 5.5%

• Others: 0.8%

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Candidates

Dasari Manohar Reddy (BRS)

Manohar Reddy (64) was born to Dasari Ram Reddy on February 25, 1954, in Kausalpally. He has one son Prashanth Reddy, who is chairperson of his educational institutions, and not active in politics. Manohar Reddy was first elected in 2014, and then re-elected in 2018.

Chintakunta Vijaya Ramana Rao (Congress)

Vijaya Ramana Rao (52) was born to C Govinda Rao. He studied up to SSC. He is the TPCC vice president and former MLA from Peddapalli. He was in the TDP till 2017 and joined the Congress.

Dugyala Pradeep Rao (BJP)

Dugyala Pradeep Rao is the State BJP general secretary. He is 57 years old, and he was born to Purushotham Rao Dugyala. He has been attached to the local communities through party activities for a long time, but he lacks the ability to turn the BJP followers into voters.

Assembly constituency information:

Geography: The Peddapalli constituency consists of six mandals namely Peddapalli, Julapalli, Eligade, Sulthanabad, odela and Srirampur.

Background: From 1984, the TDP won four times, the Congress won two times, and the TRS (now BRS) won two times. The Reddy and Velama communities are politically dominant in the constituency and Dalits and BCs could tilt the election results. The Congress is strong in Peddapalli town and Srirampur and the BRS is strong in Julapalli and Sulthanabad.

In 2004, BJP leader Gujjala Ramakrishna Reddy won this constituency under an alliance with the TDP. Later he contested in 2009 and 2018 on BJP ticket but lost both elections.

MLA Profile:

Profession: Manohar Reddy is the founder of Trinity Educational Institutions.

Political background: Manohar Reddy supported the BRS during the Telangana movement. He contested in the 2014 and 2018 Assembly elections and won the seat both times.

Financial strength: Very strong.

Remarks: He faced allegations of encroachment of Ranganayaka Swamy Temple lands and assigned lands in Bompally village.

Cultural

Century-old Mallikarjuna Swami Temple

Boudda sthupam at Dhulikatta

2014 Assembly analysis:

• TDP Candidate Vijay Ramana Rao has a very good image, but that did not help him in winning the election, due to anti-incumbency against the TDP and the Charishma of Manohar Reddy of the BRS.

• Four months before the Assembly elections, local body elections were held in the constituency. The BRS candidate Dasari Manohar Reddy helped the party in winning the local body elections and with that, he has gained his own cadre.

• Manohar Reddy has promised an agriculture research centre a bus depot. With the help of the Telangana wave, he was able to win the election by a huge margin.

• Congress candidate T Bhanu Prasad Rao was able to garner traditional Congress votes. After the elections, he joined the BRS and got the MLC nomination.

2018 Assembly analysis:

• In 2018, BRS candidate Manohar Reddy Dasari regained his seat. He won the election by a margin of 8,466 votes.

• C Vijaya Ramana Rao quit the TDP and joined the Congress in 2017, under Revanth Reddy's guidance. He gave a tough fight to the sitting MLA. He is a popular leader in the constituency and the youth rallied behind him. He pulled the traditional TDP voters, and Mahakutami boosted his presence.

Current situation:

• There is a huge anti-incumbency against Dasari Manohar Reddy in the assembly constituency.

• Till the last minute, there was confusion over the candidature of Manohar Reddy.

• Manohar Reddy fighting to set up a hattrick record in Peddapalli

•Key local issues:

1. Peddapalli bus depot

2. Agriculture research centre

3. Bus connectivity to the villages