In KCR stronghold, voters divided over his performance

GAJWEL(TELANGANA): As one turns right at Pragnapur village, off the state highway around 65 kilometres from Hyderabad, the small town of Gajwel looms into view.

Wide four-laned roads lined with trees and a central median equipped with LED street lighting and colourful plantation greet the visitor. A short distance away is a 100-bed government hospital with state-of-theart facilities that are hard to find even i n bigger i nstitutions across the state.

Then, there is an air-conditioned integrated market yard, a virtual supermarket for farmers to directly sell their produce without involving middlemen, and a massive integrated government office complex.down the road is a big educational hub comprising schools, colleges, hostels and a 1200-seater auditorium. Next to it is a plush cultural centre. Gajwel, a town in Siddipet district, was not always like this but has changed rapidly after 2014 when CM K Chandrasekhar Rao won the election from the constituency, say some local people.

“About a decade ago, it was grossly neglected area and a hotbed of Naxalites. There was hardly any proper road into the town and its surrounding villages,” recalls B Kishan, a shopkeeper. Many locals say they have reaped the benefits of living in a VIP constituency because officials have focused on welfare programmes, especially on housing, pensions and drinking water. “My pension has gone up from ~ 200 to ~ 1,000 per month in the last four years and it is being credited to my account every month regularly,” said 68-year old Narasanna. KCR, as the CM is popularly known, has many supporters in the town who insist the December 7 election will see a thumping win for the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (Trs)leader. The TRS is looking