The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Top BJP, CPI leaders locked in bitter contest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 07, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Top BJP, CPI leaders locked in bitter contest

By S. Ramu

NALGONDA, APRIL 6. A rare interlock of urban (Malakpet Assembly segment), semi-urban (Ibrahimpatnam, Nalgonda, Bhongir), rural (Munugode and Alair) and tribal (Devarakonda) areas form the Nalgonda parliamentary constituency.

The State unit heads of two national parties -- Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India -- Nallu Indrasena Reddy and Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy respectively -- are in the fray to make it a VIP constituency this time. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti has fielded Vattipalli Srinivasa Goud, a former president of the Rajapet Mandal Praja Parishad, notwithstanding its much-talked alliance with opposition parties.

Though CPI and Congress strategists consider the TRS nominee an underdog, he could mar Mr. Sudhakar Reddy's chances in case the party cadre in Alair and Bhongir take his fight seriously.

Buoyed by the lack of unity among the Opposition, the BJP is making all- out efforts to get a lead in its strongholds, Malakpet, Ibrahimpatnam and Nalgonda Assembly segments. The TDP is taking care of party campaign in the Bhongir and Alair segments, where the BJP's presence is said to be token. Even as the naxalite threat is looming large, the BJP-TDP combine has made inroads into the tribal thandas in the Devarakonda segment.

In sharp contrast, confusion prevailed in the CPI camp because of the presence of TRS candidates in the fray of Munugode and Devarkonda, the two seats that have been allotted to it by the Congress. The CPI(M) pitted its candidates against the Congress and TRS candidates in Nalgonda and Bhongir and this political conundrum has resulted in a tricky situation for Mr. Sudhakar Reddy.

Undeterred by the "adamant attitude'' of the TRS, the CPI is making efforts to ensure the complete transfer of Congress votes to its kitty. Besides the traditional communists, the minorities, numbering 1.7 lakhs, are expected to side with Mr. Sudhakar Reddy. Giving an indication that the fight is going to generate much heat in this harsh summer, Mr. Indrasena Reddy, who had made four unsuccessful bids to hoist the saffron flag in this communist citadel in 1980, 1994, 1996 and 1998, kick-started his campaign with a fierce slogan: "CPIku vese votu waste. Naaku vese votu best (The vote you cast for the CPI would go waste and vote for me for the best). He is urging voters to send him to Parliament to strengthen the hands of Mr. Vajpayee, who according to him is synonymous with development.

Mr. Sudhakar Reddy, who had won in 1998 and lost in 1999 here, launched his campaign at Bollepally village, the cradle of Ravi Narayana Reddy, the tallest leader of the Armed Struggle. He has been reeling out statistics to counter the "India shining'' campaign.

"Scores of farmers have committed suicide and people are struggling hard to lead a normal life in the absence of basic facilities,'' Mr. Sudhakar Reddy maintains.

Water woes, interlining of rivers, Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, the naxal problem and the Telangana issue are figuring in the slowly picking up electioneering.

Mungode

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