Familiar BRS candidate up against popular Congress leader in Ramagundam

Parliament: Peddapalli

District: Peddapalli

MLA: KORUKANTI CHANDAR PATEL (AIFB leader who joined BRS, Munnur Kapu

MP: Agam Chandrasekhar (INC, Madiga)

Reservation: Gen

Total Voters: 2,14,008

Booths: 259

Urban Voters: 88%

Rural Voters: 12%

Male: 51%

Female: 49

Caste & Religious Demography:

Gen + OBC: 75.50%

SC: 17.70%

ST: 6.70%

Hindu: 95.8%

Muslim: 2.9%

Others : 1.3

Candidates Profile

Korukanti Chander (BRS)

He contested on TRS (now BRS) ticket in 2009 and came third. He was later denied a ticket from TRS in 2014 which was given to sitting independent MLA S Sathyanarayana. Chander then contested from the All India Forward Bloc and came second. In the 2018 elections he again contested on an AIFB ticket and successfully got elected to the Assembly from Ramagundam. He later joined the BRS after the election

MS Raj Thakur (Congress)

He has been an active student and youth congress leader. He joined the INC in 2014. He has been an active member of the party and has worked on various social and developmental projects in Ramagundam constituency. He is Peddapalli District Congress Committee and in-charge of Ramagundam constituency. He was also former Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh chairman and Indian National Trade Union Congress State vice-president,

Kandula Sandhya Rani (BJP):

She was with the BRS and was Palakurthy ZPTC till October 2023. She raised corruption allegations against the MLA and quit the party.

Constituency information

Geography:

• Ramagudam Assembly was formed after delimitation in 2008, it was earlier part of the Medaram Assembly. Ramagudam Assembly is spread over Ramagundam Corporation, Palkurti and Ramagundam Rural mandals.
  
• Ramagudam is home to NTPC electric plant, cement industries and coal mines. There is huge impact of trade unions here in the politics.
  
  Background: Elections in Ramagundam are based on personalities rather than parties. Three elections have taken place since 2009. Somarapu Satyanarayana won as an independent in 2009 and on the TRS ticket in 2014. Korukanti Chandar then won as an AIFB candidate in 2018.
  
  

MLA Profile:

Personal Background: He was born in Godavarikhani, Ramagundam, Peddapalli. He completed his education in Hyderabad. He was active in youth politics.

Profession: Politics and Real Estate Business

Political Background: He has been very active in politics since his student days. He worked as General Secretary of the Telugu Yuvatha (TDP Youth wing) in Godavarikhani between 1993 and 1997.

Koppula Eshwar was his political mentor. Upon his advice, he joined TRS, in its foundation days. He actively participated in the movement along with KCR. He is famous among the youth and famous in Ramagundam - Godavarikhani area.

Financial Strength: Strong

2014 Election Analysis

• The then sitting independent MLA Somavarpu Sthaynarayana joined the TRS and contested on the TRS ticket in 2014. There was a multi-corner fight due to the strong presence of various multiple employee unions. Almost 6 candidates got above 5 per cent votes.
• The TRS candidate got 26 per cent, mostly his cadre base and supporting unions. Mostly, his votes got polled in Ramagundam municipal corporation area. He won the assembly election with a narrow margin of 1.67 per cent against the AIFB candidate K Chandra.
• K Chandra got votes, polled mostly among youth and trade and employee unions of NTPC and Singareni coal mines. He got 24.33% votes
• The INC got third position with Reddy, Mala and Muslim votes with 12.8%

2018 Analysis:

• Although there was huge anti-incumbency with the party, the TRS gave a ticket to its sitting MLA S Sathyanarayana. But he was unsuccessful in this election. He lost to the AIFB candidate K Chandra
• The AIFB candidate was able to secure 45% which was 20% more than sitting MLA and TRS candidate
• The candidate had sentiment by his side as he had lost twice, with a narrow margin once. He campaigned and made himself available to the public while he was in the opposition.
• K Chandra got votes from all trade unions, Madiga community, Padmasali and Munnuru Kapu communities

Current Situation

• The sitting MLA joined the BRS post elections, and he is accessible to people and is popular among the youth.
• But there is concern among the youth due to unemployment and due to anti-incumbency against the BRS Government
• The INC is growing stronger with ground activities and BJP also actively engaging with people.

Key Local Issues:

• Yellampalli Project
• Railway Bridge
• Medical college