Telangana: Opposition against Harish Rao silently builds in Siddipet

Hyderabad: Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao has been indispensable to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and more so as the Siddipet assembly seat MLA since 2004 when he won it for the first time by defeating Cheruku Muthyam Reddy of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with a margin of 24,829 votes. While Harish Rao has never lost the seat since then, a different kind of churn is being witnessed, wherein public opposition against him is building up for the first time.

The development is interesting, but perhaps also expected given that the Congress is currently in power in Telangana, after managing to beat the BRS for the first time in the 2023 Assembly elections. The BRS had won the 2014 and 2018 state polls. Harish Rao in the 2018 elections in fact defeated his nearest rival with a margin of almost 1,20,000 votes, which dropped to around 82,000 votes in 2023 elections.

The reasons are more than what meets the eye. Though the genesis of anti-incumbency against Harish Rao in the Siddipet constituency had begun even before 2018 elections, it became pronounced in 2023 elections.

In 2018 elections, due to the Mahakutami (TDP, Congress and TJS) fighting the elections collectively, which is known to be a historic blunder committed by the Congress at the time, a little-known Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) candidate was given ticket to contest against Harish Rao. It only helped the MLA sail past the 1 lakh margin mark.

The developments that took place since then have been pertinent. One of them was the BJP’s resurgence led by ex-president Bandi Sanjay, that led to many leaders from Siddipet to join the saffron brigade. It was the watershed moment that created a space for opportunity in Siddipet.

The entry of a new face in Siddipet politics

At this juncture, the entry of Gadhagoni Chakradhar Goud, who runs an NGO called ‘Farmers First Foundation,’ into the BJP was perceived as a threat to Harish Rao’s domination in the constituency. Chakradhar was aggressive in reaching out to the farmers in distress, offering financial support to their families affected by the suicide of a farmer, or giving support to farmers in case of crop loss.

It was shortly after Chakradhar joined BJP months before the elections, he, along with his wife Arushka Reddy were arrested in the middle of the night from their residence. The allegation against him was that of an attempt to rape a woman. Rumours started floating about Chakradhar was also involved in several other cases in the past, which was also true.

There were half a dozen cases filed against him between 2006 and 2020 that included issuing counterfeit currency, cheating, assault on an auto driver, criminal trespass and assault on another person, in addition to a motor vehicle offence. He got acquitted in the counterfeit currency case, settled the cheating and assault on auto driver cases in the Lok Adalat.

At the time, there was talk in the constituency that it was Harish Rao who targeted Chakradhar Goud and foisted a false case against him.

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BJP was quick to distance itself from Chandrakar, and was internally apologetic about inducting him into the party. The elections came and Chakradhar wasn’t given a ticket to contest on the ‘Lotus’ symbol. He contested on Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket and secured as many as 16,610 votes, which wasn’t bad for a party that had no presence there.

BJP and Congress candidates, despite having an opportunity thrown by the anti-incumbency factor, managed to secure only 23,201 and 23,206 votes respectively.

After coming to power in the state, the Congress saw this as an opportunity and welcomed Chakradhar Goud with its arms wide open. Now the tables have turned against Harish Rao in the constituency.

The alleged Ranganayaka Sagar land scam expose

Chakradhar Goud has since alleged that Harish Rao has benamis had occupied 70 acres of land in and around the Ranganayaka Sagar reservoir, where he allegedly built a lavish farmhouse. He has also filed cases against Harish Rao alleging the tapping of his phone when the BRS was in power, and also a petition surrounding the election affidavit of Harish.

The expose of the alleged land scam in Ranganayaka Sagar has masked the efforts put in by Harish Rao, who was the irrigation minister who oversaw the construction of that reservoir under the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS).

What was a silent sympathy wave in favour of Chakradhar Goud before the elections, suddenly shot him into fame after he started taking on Harish Rao head-on.

The consolidation of BC communities’ votes

The ‘caste’ aspect is also playing a major factor in the present day Siddipet politics. This could be seen how Pilli Sai Kumar, a lesser-known youngster belonging to the Mudiraju community, managed to secure almost 5,000 votes in 2023 elections. He never won even as a ward member of a gram panchayat, but was able to consolidate the votes of Mudirajus in a few villages to get those votes.

The BC identity of Chakradhar Goud, combined with a powerful backing of the economically strong toddy-tapper community in the district could also add to his image as an emerging leader from the community.

Growing anger against Harish, and an equally strong support

Presently, there are people in the constituency speaking openly against Harish Rao, and there are people making equally strong arguments in support of Harish Rao. These discussions can be seen in public places, tea stalls and in the villages.

The recent incident of Congress workers waylaying Harish Rao’s camp office in Siddipet, the increasing influence of Medak MLA Mynampally Rohith, son of former Malkajgiri MLA Mynampally Hanumanth Rao and the rise of Chakdradhar Goud, are all being seen as a culmination of the political climate change in Siddipet assembly constituency.

An indication of the change can be seen in Siddipet town and in villages, where youth groups and individuals, who used to erect flexis and banners trying to impress upon Harish Rao, are barely doing it these days. The pink colour is presently being dominated by the tri-colour.

Verdicts in cases to determine who will win the hearts

Political pundits in the constituency, who are well aware of the political developments, are taking neither sides, but are aware that the possibility of a change of guard may not be a distant factor. They say that whether Harish Rao can hold his ground, or Chakradhar Goud may gain ground in the constituency, or if a third force may emerge- will all be decided based on the verdict of the cases filed on Chakradhar and Harish.

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