Teary-eyed Subhash Reddy's sympathy factor could dent Congress votes, BRS stands firm in Yellareddy

Assembly Constituency: Yellareddy

District: Kamareddy

MLA: Jajala Surender (Munnur Kapu)

Total Voters: 2,14,015

Booths: 270

Urban Voters: 5%

Rural Voters: 95%

Male: 49%

Female: 51%

Caste & Religious Demography:

• Gen + BC: 75.4%

• SC: 16.2%

• ST: 11.5%

• Hindu: 93.1%

• Muslim: 6.1%

• Others: 0.8%

Candidates

Jajala Surender (BRS)

Jajala Surender was born in 1975, in Nallamadugu Village, Kamareddy district to Narsaiah and Hanumavva. He completed B.Com from Sardar Patel College O.U. Hyderabad in 1995. He is married to Bhargavai and has two sons. Surender started his political career in student politics at the Osmania University. He entered into his first election fray in the 2004 Assembly elections as an independent candidate after Congress denied him a ticket. Later he contested the 2010 by-elections from the TDP and 2014 Assembly elections from the Congress. He was unsuccessful in all three attempts. In the 2018 Assembly elections, he contested on a Congress ticket and won the election. He later joined the TRS (Now BRS) in 2019. He is currently battling internal bickering within the BRS. His advantage is that he is an accessible leader to the public.

K Madan Mohan Rao (Congress)

K Madan Mohan Rao was born on August 1, 1970. He is the son-in-law of Errabelli Dayakar Rao. Madan Mohan Rao’s candidature created a rift in the Congress party as Subhash Reddy was wishing for a Congress ticket till the last minute. Madan Mohan Rao is the TPCC social media in-charge andcontested against BB Patil for the Zaheerabad Lok Sabha seat in 2018 and lost.

Vaddepalli Subhash Reddy (BJP)

Subhash Reddy had strongly aspired for the MLA ticket from the Yellareddy Assembly constituency, but the AICC announced the ticket to K Madanmohan Rao. Irked by this decision, Subhash Reddy conducted a meeting with his followers and wept inconsolably. He later quit the Congress and joined the BJP, which nominated him to the Yellareddy seat. The irony was that both Revanth Reddy and Subhash Reddy resigned from the TDP and joined the Congress at the same time.

Constituency profile

• Yellareddy constituency consists of Yellareddy town, Lingampet, Tadwai, Sadashivanagar, Nagareddipet and Gandhari mandals.
• Yellareddy was a stronghold of the TDP until 2001 when the TRS (Now BRS) was formed. After the formation of the BRS, this seat became the stronghold of the pink party.
• The TDP won for 25 years and the BRS for 15 years from this constituency. In the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress wrested this seat from the BRS.
  
• The constituency is politically dominated by BC and the Reddy communities

2014 Assembly analysis:

• Yellareddy is a stronghold of the BRS. Then sitting MLA Enugu Ravindar Reddy won the election for the third time in 2014 Assembly elections.

• The BRS was majorly supported by the Mudiraj, Magida and Reddy communities in this constituency. Surender won this election with a majority of 24,000 votes.

• The Congress had secured around 46,000 votes, it sustained its core vote bank of SCs, Reddies in the constituency

• The BJP in alliance with the TDP secured 33,000 votes. Its major voters in this constituency were Munnuru Kapu, who swung votes between Congress and the TDP.

2018 Assembly analysis:

• In the 2018 Assembly elections, Congress candidate Surender won the constituency with a 35,000 vote majority against the BRS candidate who secured 14,000 votes less than the 2014 Assembly elections.

• The main reasons for the defeat of Ravindar Reddy were the anti-incumbency, anger of traders' community, his inaccessibility and harassment and alleged corruption by his followers.

• Vysa, Magida and Mudiraj communities around Yellareddy town shifted their loyalties to the Congress from the BRS.

• The BJP was able to secure only 6,500 votes

Current situation:

• Currently, both the BRS and the Congress are struggling due to internal rifts.

• The fight is in between Jajala and Madan Mohan Reddy

• BJP is also active on the ground and has a good presence in Yellareddy town.

• Currently, no party has a clear chance or edge, it is a battleground seat for all parties.

• Consolidation of BC and ST votes is key to winning this Assembly constituency

• Sympathy towards Subhash Reddy might yield him some Congress votes

Key Local Issues:

1. Modernisation of Pocharam project

2. Hospital in tribal region

3. Roads and bridges