With a voter population of over 2.1 lakh, the heat in the Munugode assembly constituency has intensified over the last one month, as K Chandrashekar Rao is left no stone unturned realizing that it is a matter of prestige for him this time. This by-election will be a litmus test for the newly formed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana since he renamed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) as the BRS. In case of BJP, it’s an open window to showcase that the people of Telangana are looking for a change and the party would be eyeing to cash-in on the opportunity.
KCR has deputed over 80 MLAs and 14 ministers to just monitor and campaign in the constituency, showing the extent of pressure that’s building up in Munugode. The battle for Munugode has become a must win for KCR has he will be eyeing to send a strong message to the saffron camp in the run up to the assembly elections in 2023 and also to build trust with his newly labeled party. If BJP wins, they would use the “change” slogan against the TRS and try to make inroads into the second South Indian state.
The Munugode seat is one of the 7 Assembly Constituencies of Bhongir Parliamentary constituency in Nalgonda District of Telangana. The current by-poll in Munugode Assembly scheduled on November 3, has been necessitated by the resignation of former Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy. The reason cited was that he was unhappy with Revanth Reddy being appointed as the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President. K.Rajgopal Reddy has shifted his allegiance towards the BJP Party to fight against the alleged family rule of TRS.
The majority of voters in the constituency belong to Backward classes (BC) and hence communities like Gouds, Yadavs and Padmashalis are expected to be the deciding factors in this by-election. The caste dynamics of this constituency is 30% Goud and Mudhiraj communities, 10% Yadavs, 5% Padmashali community of BC communities which the TRS is aiming to have in their kitty. The Congress is trying to consolidate the Reddy community votes, which forms nearly 3.5% of the electorate. The SC community which includes both Madiga and the Malas constitute nearly 16.5% of the electorate.
The ST communities constitute nearly 10% of the electorate. Muslims constitute nearly 3.5% of the vote share. The rest of the electorate consists of Kammas, Munnurukapus, Velamas and other castes.
The TRS party has announced Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy as its candidate. He was a former MLA(2014-2018) of Munugode Assembly constituency. He had lost to K.Rajagopal Reddy in the 2018 Assembly Elections. BJP is fielding Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy. He was sitting MLA from this constituency before resigning. BSP has announced Andoju Shankara Chary as its candidate. TDP has announced Jakkala Illaiah Yadav as its candidate and PSP has announced Gaddar as its candidate who is an Indian poet, activist and former Naxalite. The two left parties—CPI and CPI (M)—which have a good mass base in the constituency have already decided to stay away from the by-election and announced support to TRS.
The Munugode seat has predominantly been a Congress stronghold. Hence, this time, the Congress has fielded Palvai Sravanthi Reddy, daughter of former Minister and MLA Palvai Govardhan Reddy. She was elected as the MLA from this constituency five times in the past - 1967 and 1999.
The Munugode By-election is very significant for all the parties as its outcome would give a psychological edge to the winner ahead of next year’s Assembly elections. The political atmosphere is heated up with all the parties gearing up for the contest. The counting of votes for this crucial election is scheduled for November 6.