Colleagues not so long ago, BRS, BJP, Congress candidates slug it out in Warangal East

Parliament: Warangal

District: Warangal

MLA: Narendar Nannapuneni

MP: Pasunuri Dayakar

Reservation: GEN

Total Voters: 2,42,084

Booths: 230

Urban Voters: 100%

Rural Voters: 0%

Male: 50.02%

Female: 49.98%

Caste & Religious Demography

Gen + OBC: 87.30%

SC: 11.00%

ST: 1.70%

Hindu: 80.60%

Muslim: 17.90%

Others : 1.50%

Contestant Profiles

Nannapuneni Narender (BRS)

Born on August 5, 1972 in Warangal, Narender is the youngest of four children. His father was a lorry driver who passed away when Narender was 18. He discontinued studies and started working as a delivery boy and later as an accountant in a wine shop. He later became a working partner at the same wine shop which kickstarted his business career. He started his political career in the TDP where he became a corporator. He joined the TRS (now BRS) in 2009 during the height of the Telangana movement. Since then he became very close to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. He again won as corporator from the Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation in 2015 elections. He was then appointed as a Mayor. In 2018, he contested on a TRS ticket and secured 54 per cent of the votes. He is easily accessible to people and is politically and financially strong.

Konda Surekha (Congress)

Konda Surekha was born August 19, 1965 is a seasoned politician having been elected to the Assembly from Shyampet, Parkal, and Warangal East constituencies. Konda Surekha was first elected as a Congress MLA from Shayampet. In 2004 she got elected as MLA again from Shayampet and became Congress party’s official spokesperson. In 2009, she got elected as Parkal MLA and was sworn in as Minister for Women Development & Child Welfare but resigned supporting YS Jagan’s ill treatment by the Congress. She contested by-polls from Parkal Assembly constituency as YSRCP candidate but resigned in July 2013. She joined the TRS and won from the Warangal-East Assembly constituency in 2014 but quit the party in 2018 and rejoined the Congress.

Errabelli Pradeep Rao (BJP)

He is the brother of BRS leader Errabelli Dayakar Rao and had in fact joined the BRS much before him. Pradeep was appointed the Warangal Urban Cooperative Bank chairman. Pradeep Rao aspired for the BRS ticket for the 2014 and in 2018 Assembly elections and was even ready to contest as an Independent. Sensing that he might not get a ticket this also, he quit the BRS in 2022 and joined the BJP.

Constituency information

Geography: This is part of Warangal Municipal Corporation and is an urban constituency. This constituency was carved out of Hanumakonda Assembly in 2008 delimitation exercise. The BC community dominates this segment.

Background: The TRS has been very strong in this constituency. In the 2014 and 2018 elections, the TRS was able to win with more than 55 per cent of the votes. The BJP has not shown much presence in this constituency as yet. The suburban area has a lot of slums and has a considerable population of beedi manufacturers. The Warangal grain market is one of the famous markets in Telangana. Warangal fort too comes under this constituency. Padmashali, Munnuru Kapu and Muslims are the prominent communities in this constituencies.

Cultural/Historical/Religious Identifiers

• Ursugutta Lake
• Warangal Fort
• Bhadrakali Temple

Election Analysis

2014

In 2014, anti-incumbency against the Congress in the wake of the Telangana movement helped the BRS win the Assembly quite easily. Surekha and her husband Konda Murali were strong BC leaders in Warangal district. Konda Sureka belongs to Padmashali and Konda Murali belongs to Munnuru Kapu and their family had good influence over Muslims in the 2014 period. This led to consolidation of BC votes towards the BRS. The TDP-BJP alliance could not give much of a fight, its candidate Padma Rao was able to secure just 7.85% of votes.

2018

In 2018, the TRS denied a ticket to sitting MLA Konda Surekha because of her involvement in the affairs of neighbouring constituencies and infighting with local TRS leaders to gain an upper hand. She joined the Congress and contested from Parkal. Then TRS then fielded Warangal Mayor Narender Nannapuneni. He was able to win the election easily by virtue of his good reputation in the constituency. He is also from Munnuru Kapu community who have a sizeable population in the constituency which led to consolidation of BC votes.

Current Scenario

• Apart from Konda Sureka’s family, the Congress does not have a tall figure in this constituency.
• The BJP lacks ground level presence in this constituency and lacks strong leaders.

Key Local Issues

• Traffic issues
• Need to shift Auto Nagar to Mammunuru
• Shivnagar Railway foot-over bridge.