TRS and Congress eye Nalgonda Lok Sabha seat

HYDERABAD: It is a prestigious constituency for both the ruling TRS and Congress. The pink party, which was founded in 2001, has never won from this Lok Sabha (LS) constituency. While TRS is making every effort to take over the seat — a bastion of Congress and Communist Parties for the past three decades — Congress, too, is working out strategies to retain it.


TRS is scouting for a strong candidate to field from Nalgonda. The ruling party had succeeded in defeating four-time Congress MLA Komatireddy Venkat Reddy in the recently held assembly elections and is now eyeing the LS seat.

Several Congress leaders are in the fray from Nalgonda, as it is traditionally a Congress seat. The names of Congress ex MLA Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, former Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader K Jana Reddy’s son Raghuveer Reddy, another leader Patel Ramesh Reddy, ex MLA from Kodad and Pradesh Congress Committee chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy’s wife Padmavathi are doing the rounds.

Since 1989, in eight LS elections, Congress candidates won thrice, Communist Party candidates four times and TDP once. In the past two elections in 2009 and 2014, Congress candidate Gutha Sukhender Reddy won from Nalgonda LS constituency. Sukhender Reddy, after winning on the Congress ticket in the 2014 elections, joined TRS. He was made chairman of Rythu Samanvaya Samithi and accorded cabinet status. This time he is unlikely to contest, and there are reports he would be inducted into the cabinet in the next expansion. Now, TRS is considering realtor Vemireddy Narsimha Reddy’s name apart from two other names.

Seven assembly segments — Nalgonda, Devarakonda, Nagarjunasagar, Miryalaguda, Huzurnagar, Kodad and Suryapet — under Nalgonda LS were either Congress-dominated or communist-dominated constituencies till the 2014 elections. In the 2014 assembly elections, Congress won six of the 12 seats. When it comes to Nalgonda LS elections, party general secretary Palla Rajeshwar Reddy had contested and got 21.92% votes with third place. After he lost, he was made MLC.

Now, in 2018 elections in the 12 seats in the entire erstwhile Nalgonda, Congress could get only three, and when it comes to assembly segments under Nalgonda LS, except Huzurnagar assembly constituency, all other six assembly constituencies were secured by TRS candidates. Meanwhile, BJP and Communist Parties are also planning to contest from Nalgonda.