Election Results: Osmania University minnows take down bigwigs

HYDERABAD: For over four years starting November 2009, they were at the forefront of the Telangana agitation in Osmania University (OU). And as election results came out on Friday, Balka Suman and G Kishore, both research scholars of OU, ascended a step further on the political ladder by winning one Lok Sabha and Assembly seat respectively in Telangana. And judging by the jubilance ringing through the campus hostels, these two leaders have taken on the status of icons for the student leaders.
Suman, who hogged the limelight by trouncing Congress leader G Vivekanand in the Peddapalli Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes, hails from Karimnagar and is a post graduate in English literature from Osmania University’s PG College at Secunderabad. The 31-year-old later joined OU for his research in the same subject and soon got involved in political activities under the TRS’s student wing, Telangana Rashtra Samithi Vidyarthi Vibhag (TRSVV). He even went on to become the fourth state president of TRSVV, following which the party offered him an MP ticket.
Speaking to TOI, Suman credited his victory towards his commitment to Telangana. “It’s commitment to the Telangana cause that led to my victory. People of the region put their trust on TRS leadership,” he said.
For both students, hailing from the socially backward Mala community, politics was not a cakewalk as they had slogged it out for the Telangana movement on campus and other T districts, their friends said. Instead of centering his political activity in Hyderabad, Suman toured the length and breadth of Telangana. But their hard work paid off, they said, as they distributed sweets in the OU hostels.
Kishore, who won over Congress’ Addanki Dayakar with a narrow margin of 2,379 votes in–Assembly constituency, too hails from a humble family in Nalgonda district. An inmate of the Old Research Scholar Hostel in OU, he also slogged it out, leading several protests and holding high the TRS flag. “The two leaders have a bright political future and made the university proud. Many others from OU will follow their footsteps,” said Ch Paramdhamulu, an assistant professor of sociology department and batchmate of the two political leaders.
However, the entire Telangana bastion of OU could not taste victory. TRS Assembly candidate Pidamarthi Ravi, who contested from Sattupalli constituency, lost to the TDP candidate. Nalliganti Sarath, an MIM candidate, lost to BJP’s Kishan Reddy in Amberpet constituency. Two other student candidates — Rajaram Yadav and M Sathyam — who entered the fray from Armur and Choppadandi constituencies under the TDP banner, lost to the TRS wave.
But those who lost this time still hope to play a bigger role in politics. “Within the party I have earned a place. There is hope for political growth,” Sarath, who lost the Amberpet seat, said. Son of a stone cutter, he said he will not quit politics due to this first loss.