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Fight between old rivals

By Our Correspondent

MAHABUBNAGAR, APRIL 13. It is a fight between old rivals this time too in the Shadnagar reserved Assembly segment. Former Deputy CLP leader, P.Shankar Rao, is facing a stiff contest from his old rival and ballad singer, Bakkani Narsimulu, who was chosen by the Telugu Desam Party.

Mr Bakkani Narsimulu, a former TTD Board member, who has stolen the hearts of the rural masses, with his mythological songs in the constituency was pitted against P.Shankar Rao in the 1994 Assembly elections. Though it was the first time for Narsimulu to enter the election arena, he defeated Mr Shankar Rao with a big margin. This was a humiliating defeat for Mr Shankar Rao as he had won the seat when he contested twice in the past with a gap of one term. Mr Shankar Rao contested from this constituency for the first time in 1983, when the NTR wave was sweeping the State. Surprisingly, he defeated his nearest rival Telugu Desam candidate, P.Radhakrishna.

But in 1985, Mr Shankar Rao contested as an independent candidate as he was denied the Congress ticket. Former Congress MLA Beeswa Kistaiah was fielded by the Congress against M.Indira, the TDP candidate. The TDP fielded Indira, a college lecturer, as Mr Radhakrishna was elected to the Rajya Sabha. She was elected from the constituency with a margin of over 7,000 votes.

In the 1989 elections, Mr Shankar Rao was nominated by the Congress to challenge Ms Indira who was renominated by the TDP. Mr Shankar Rao came out victorious in the anti-incumbency wave, but got defeated in the 1994 elections. The Telugu Desam Party left the Shadnagar seat to the BJP in 1999 elections as part of an electoral understanding between the two parties. Balu, a new entrant into politics, was pitted by the BJP against Mr Shankar Rao. He again won the seat by securing 56,195 votes and his nearest rival, Mr Balu, could get 50,185 votes.

As the BJP did not claim the Shadnagar seat this time, the TDP fielded Mr Bakkani Narsimulu against Mr Shankar Rao, who is contesting for the fifth time from this constituency. Shadnagar constituency was reserved for Scheduled Castes in 1967. The constituency has the distinction of being represented by the Chief Minister of the erstwhile Hyderabad State, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao.

It will be a record if Mr Shankar Rao wins the seat this time too as no candidate has won the seat twice in a row since the 1952 elections. Mr Shankar Rao contested four elections among the five that were held since 1983 and was elected thrice. Mr Bakkani Narsimulu is testing his luck for the second time. Mr Shankar Rao is mainly harping on development work undertaken by him in the constituency, while Narsimulu is pointing that only TDP can give a stable Government, eradicate poverty and ensure social justice.

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