The Hindu (Hyderabad)

Some Lok Sabha constituen­cies in State to see keen contests

- M. Rajeev

The forthcomin­g Lok Sabha elections in Telangana, noti cation for which has been issued on Thursday, is likely to see keen contests in at least some constituen­cies.

The ght was primarily between the BRS and the Congress in several constituen­cies in 2014 when elections were held in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh; triangular contests were witnessed in some constituen­cies in 2019 with the BJP gaining signi cant ground in some constituen­cies. In Adilabad Lok Sabha seat, for instance, the BRS (then TRS) was in straight contest with the Congress in 2014 elections when the BRS candidate Godam Nagesh won with the comfortabl­e majority of 1.71 lakh votes over the Congress rival with BJP nowhere in the picture.

The situation has undergone a sea change in 2019 with the BJP emerging as one of the main contenders in the poll and its candidate Soyam Bapu Rao won the poll with a margin of close to 60,000 votes. The BJP also won from Karimnagar, Secunderab­ad and Nizamabad constituen­cies in the election showing its emergence as a major contender in the north Telangana region.

Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat saw a huge number of 185 contestant­s in the 2019 elections when sitting MP

Kalvakuntl­a Kavitha, daughter of BRS president K. Chandrasek­har Rao, lost to BJP’s Arvind Dharmapuri with close to 71,000 votes. Zaheerabad constituen­cy witnessed a keen contest between the BRS and the Congress where the BRS candidate B.B. Patil scraped through with a margin of 6,229 votes over his Congress rival Madan Mohan Rao. The same was the case with Bhongir where Congress’ Komatiredd­y Venkat Reddy managed to win over his nearest rival Boora Narsaiah Goud of the BRS with a margin of 5,219 votes.

In Malkajgiri, one of the largest constituen­cies in terms of voter strength,

Congress nominee and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had to sweat it out for defeating his nearest BRS rival Marri Rajasekhar Reddy. Mr. Revanth Reddy won with a majority of 10,919 votes, considered small margin in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP showed its strong presence in the constituen­cy with its nominee N. Ramachandr­a Rao polling 3.04 lakh votes.

The dynamic political landscape of the State has witnessed several changes since 2019 elections ensuring that the forthcomin­g elections are likely to see interestin­g triangular contests at least in come constituen­cies.

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