Raghunandan Rao to face resurgent Prabhakar Reddy in Dubbaka

Assembly Constituency : Dubbaka

Parliament: Medak

District: Siddipet

MLA Name: M Raghunandan Rao (Velama)

MP Name: Kotha Prabhakar Reddy

Reservation: GEN

Total Voters: 1,92,293 Rural Voters: 98%

Booths: 253 Male: 50%

Urban Voters: 2% Female: 50%

Caste & Religious Demography:

· Gen + OBC: 77.4%

· SC: 19.7%

· ST: 2.9%

· Hindu: 94.2%

· Muslim: 4.8%

· Others :1%

Candidates

Kotha Prabhakar Reddy (BRS)

Kotha Prabhakar Reddy was born in an agricultural family in Potharam. He was recently in the news for an attempt on his life. On October 30, 2023, an unidentified person attacked Kotha Prabhakar Reddy with a knife. Known as a non-controversial and soft-spoken person he was the Medak MP, chosen by the BRS head KCR as the party candidate for the Dubbaka Assembly seat. He won the 2018 election by a margin of 3,61,833 votes in the by-poll which was necessitated after KCR resigned as MP and a major shock for the oppositions who had expected the ruling party to lose their seat after the TRS party head K. Chandrashekhar Rao had resigned from the seat after taking oath as the chief minister.

Cheruku Srinivas Reddy (Congress)

Son of senior politician Cheruku Mutyam Reddy, the Congress candidate Cheruku Srinivas Reddy. He quit the TDP and joined the Congress in 2020. A farmer by profession Srinivas Reddy lacks the killer instinct. Pitted against two senior politicians he depends more on his father’s laurels than his own political achievements. With a meager vote share in the 2018 by-elections which he lost to Raghunandan Rao, it will be a tough battle ahead for the Jr Cheruku.

Madavaneni Raghunandan Rao (BJP)

A lawyer by profession, Raghunandan Rao is the current MLA from Dubbaka. Rao was born at Siddipet to M. Bhagavantha Rao. He earned a B.Sc. degree at Siddipet Degree College, completed an L.L.B. degree at Osmania University, Hyderabad, a B.Ed. degree from Karnataka University, and a post-graduate diploma in human rights from Central University of Hyderabad. Before he wore a black apron he was a reporter in Eenadu. With the development in Dubbaka taking a back seat and the BRS candidate and Medak MP riding on the sympathy wave it will be an uphill task for the lawyer-turned-politician in Dubbaka.

Constituency information:

Geography: Dubbaka constituency is spread over Dubbaka, Doultabad, Chegunta, Toguta and Mirdoddi, Mandals. Dubbaka constituency was formed in 2008. In the first election of 2009, Cheruku Muthyam Reddy (TDP) won this assembly against alliance candidate Solipeta Rama Linga Reddy of the TRS. In 2014 and 2018, Ramalinga Reddy contested against then-sitting MLA Mutham Reddy and won this segment. Toguta Mandal is a stronghold for the Congress. Doultabad and Chegunta Mandals are favorable to the TRS. Dubbaka town is favorable to the BJP.

MLA Profile:

Personal Background: He was born in Siddipet. He did his B.Sc. at Siddipet Degree College, completed L.L.B from Osmania University, Hyderabad

Profession: Journalist, Advocate and Politician

Political Background: In 2001, Raghunandan started his political Journey with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Party, and he was a member of the TRS Party. He is the politburo member and worked as Convenor of Medak District.

On May 14, 2013, he was suspended from the TRS party on allegations of meeting with the Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu which he actively denied. Subsequently, he joined the BJP and contested as MLA from the Dubbaka constituency, but he lost in 2014 and also in 2018. He won the 2020 by-poll election by a margin of 1,074 votes, after the death of sitting MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy.

Financial Strength: Strong

2014 Assembly Analysis

With the internal fights and a lot of anti-incumbency, sitting MLA Cheruku Muthyam Reddy contested from the INC and lost the election to the TRS candidate S Ramalinga Reddy with 37,925 votes. The Key INC leader MLC Farooq withdrew his support to Muthyam Reddy and supported the TRS candidate.

Later, Farooq joined the TRS party. The Telangana sentiment, being in between high-stakes constituencies of Siddipet and Gajwel and lack of strong opposition has helped TRS to gain this seat by a huge margin. The Alliance candidate BJP got 15,000 votes mostly polled in Dubbaka town. The same patterns of assembly elections were observed during the parliament elections. Almost 5 percent of the Congress votes were cross-polled for the TRS for its MP candidate KCR. The BJP also got 1,000 votes more in elections due to the 2014 Modi wave factor

2018 Assembly Analysis

The voting share of the TRS and the BJP increased during the parliament election compared to assembly elections. TRS vote share increased by 2 percent compared to the assembly election, this shift is major because of the polarisation of Muslim votes towards TRS. The BJP increased its vote share by 7 percent, mostly of unemployed youth, and anti-TRS votes were shifted from the INC. The BJP stood in second position and Congress’s vote share has gone down by 4 percent, with the shift of youth and Muslims.

By Election Analysis

With the death of a sitting MLA, S Ramalinga Reddy, a by-election was necessitated. His wife S Sujatha contested from the TRS. C Srinivas Reddy who was upset with the TDP joined INC and contested. The BJP fielded Raghunandan Rao. Nominated ahead of others he started the early campaign. The youth has rallied behind the BJP candidate, one of the key factories that helped to gain the seat with a narrow margin. BJP got an edge in Dubbaka town and the TRS got the lead in rural mandals whereas the Congress got 13 percent vote share, mostly from Togata mandal

Current Situation

Currently, this constituency is in favor of the BJP, however, there is a need to strengthen the organisation at the ground level in rural mandals. The TRS is also actively engaging its cadre with reforming the village to mandal level committee by conducting organizational elections the INC is struggling with internal fights between leaders. There are leaders in this assembly but lack leadership. However, the recent knife attack on the BRS candidate could change the mood of the people towards the BRS. However, with the BRS unsure of who planned the attack on the Medak MP might not receive any sympathy at all.

Key Local Issues:

• · Unemployment
• · Lack of industries
• · Demand for 2BHK houses
• · Lack of infrastructure
• · Murder attempt on the BRS candidate