Minister Indrakaran Reddy of the BRS beats endowment sentiment, set to win Nirmal seat

Assembly Constituency : Nirmal

District: Adilabad

MLA Name: Allola Indrakaran Reddy (Reddy)

Reservation: GENERAL

Total Voters: 2,37,332 Rural Voters: 70%

Booths: 306 Male: 47%

Urban Voters: 30%

Female: 53%

Caste & Religious Demography:

Gen + OBC: 76.6%

SC: 13.1%

ST: 10.3%

Hindu: 83.4%

Muslim: 15.5%

Others : 2%

Candidates

Allola Indrakaran Reddy (BRS)

An LLB degree-holder from Osmania University, Alolla Indrakaran Reddy entered the political arena in 1980. He was Zilla Parishad Chairman from 1987 to 1991. He was MP from 1991-1996. He was elected as MLA in 1999, 2004, and again in 2008 bye-elections. He lost the 2009 elections. He won the 2014 election on the BSP ticket but later joined the TRS (BRS). He won the 2018 elections from Nirmal on the BRS ticket.

He is probably the only endowments minister who won the elections and continued in the same ministry which is believed to be a jinxed portfolio. Under his stewardship, the reconstruction of Yadadri temple took place. However, he lost momentum after trying to bring his daughter-in-law into politics and openly declaring that he was not interested in continuing in politics.

Kuchadi Srihari Rao (Congress)

Kuchadi Srihari Rao is the Nirmal District Congress Committee President. He recently joined the Congress from the BRS with another leader from the TDP, Nomula Prakash Rao. Srihari Rao once a close friend of KCR is said to have appealed to him to take care of the affairs of the Nirmal district. He was upset because of the negligence meted out to the leaders who played an important role during the Telangana agitation. Srihari Rao is said to have adjusted for a nomination for an MLC seat by the BRS chief to accommodate Indrakaran Reddy.

Aleti Maheshwar Reddy (BJP)

Former Congress MLA Aleti Maheshwar Reddy joined the BJP in the presence of JP Nadda in April 2023. He represented Nirmal during 2009-2014. He was the AICC Programmes Implementation Committee chairman at the TPCC. The Congress served him a show-cause notice for anti-party activities.

Assembly information:

Geography: The Nirmal Assembly constituency consists of Nirmal Rural, Nirmal Urban, Dilawarpur, Narsapur, Saon, Laxman Chanda, Mamada and Sarangapur mandals and 125 villages.

Background: It is a General reserved constituency. From the 1984 elections, the Congress won two times, the TDP four times, the PRP once, the BSP once and the TRS won once from this constituency. Reddy and Munnuru Kapu castes are the strongest castes in this constituency. In almost all the elections, Reddy caste candidates are sent to the Assembly as MLA, while Munnuru Kapu caste candidates win in the local body elections.

MLA Profile:

Personal details: Allola Indrakaran Reddy was born on Feb 16 1949 in Yellapally, Adilabad district. He did his B.Com and LLB from Osmania University

Profession: Business, Land Lord.

Political Background: In 1987, he started his career as Zilla Parishad Chairman. He served as MP in 1991 for Adilabad from TDP and in 2008 from the Congress. From 1999 to 2009, he served as an MLA for Nirmal constituency from the Congress. In 2014, he worked as an Endowment and Housing Minister in the TRS government. At present, he is working as a Forest and Endowments Minister in KCR’s Cabinet

Financial Strength: Very Strong

2014 Assembly Analysis:

Aleti Maheshwar Reddy (Reddy), who won the election on the PRP ticket in 2009, later joined the Congress and contested in 2014 elections. Aleti Maheshwar Reddy, who was the MLA till then, faced strong opposition from the public and cadre due to his behavior. Aleti Maheshwar has strong relations with Muslims. He was able to get a majority of Muslim votes and the Congress vote bank of SCs, split votes of Reddies who contested from the Congress in 2009, contested from the BSP due to non-receipt of ticket from TRS.

Although there is a high Telangana sentiment wave, Indrakaran Reddy's financial and family background and his personal clout helped him win and secure Munnuru Kapu and SC votes due second-rung cadre of Indrakaran Reddy. Srihari Rao (Velama) was able to consolidate BC votes and split the votes of Munnuru Kapu.

2018 Assembly Analysis:

TRS Candidate Indrakaran Reddy, after the 2014 elections, joined the TRS. He succeeded in handling the factions of Venugopala Chary and Srihari Rao, the senior leaders of the TRS in the district. The TRS won this election. Distributing vehicles and mobile fish outlets to the Gundla (Fisherman) community by the TRS consolidated their community votes towards the TRS.

Indrakaran Reddy has got majority of Reddy votes.

He was able to split votes of Muslim community who were loyal to Aleti Maheshwar Reddy.

Congress candidate Aleti Maheshwar Reddy became stronger due to the joining of Appala Ganesh Chakravarthi (Munnuru Kapu) the municipal chairman, who is a very close associate with Indrakaran Reddy. He shifted his support to Maheshwar Reddy due to his fight with Indrakaran Reddy.

Aindla Swarna Reddy, daughter of ex-Deputy Speaker Late Aindla Bheem Reddy and doctor by profession, has done padayatra in the constituency before election and joined ithe BJP. She succeeded in attracting the BJP's traditional votes in this election and her father's image helped her split the votes of Reddies. After the BJP's defeat in this election, she joined the TRS.

Current Situation:

Allegations of corruption on Incumbent TRS MLA and Minister Allola Indrakaran Reddy and high anti-incumbency are worrying sitting MLA. He planned to introduce his daughter-in-law Divya Reddy as MLA candidate in the upcoming election. His family strength is his advantage in this constituency.

Alleti Maheshwar Reddy from the Congress is actively participating in party matters. His arrogant behavior is his major backdrop. The BJP lacks backing of strong Reddy leader compared with other parties. Appala Ganesh Chakravarthy (Munnuru Kapu) expected a ticket in the upcoming election. He is the Nirmal municipal chairman and is closely associated with Indrakaran Reddy and Maheshwar Reddy.

Key Local Issues:

• Swarna Project-Gundampally
• Farmers issue
• Development of Dharmasagar River as mini tank bund.
• Development of infrastructure