Kutami allies in keen race for Grand Alliance ticket

Shadnagar: The battle among the candidates in the constituency will commence with the announcement of Grand Alliance (GA) nominee for the December elections. Former legislator Anjaiah Yadav of TRS, Vardhan Reddy of BJP, Mannaram Nagaraju of Bahujan Left Front (BLF) and Anusha Reddy from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have already been declared as official candidates. 

Apart from the Congress, TDP, TJS and Telangana Inti Party are expecting the Grand Alliance to allocate the seat to them. TRS rebel candidate Veerlapally Shankar is already busy conducting public meetings and door-to-door campaigns in the constituency. The BJP candidate has also intensified his campaign. According to political pundits, there will be four facets of competition. Congress leaders Pratap Reddy, Shankara Rao and Kadampally Srinivas are the main contenders for the party ticket. As the constituency is considered to be a fortress of the Congress Party, whether the party will sacrifice Shadnagar as part of seat-sharing with other GA partners is a million-dollar question. 

GATEWAY TO CAPITAL

Shadnagar, which has been scoring top ranks in industrial, business and real-estate sectors, is considered to be a gateway to the state capital. Right from its inception, Shadnagar has been a fortress of the Congress. Even at the time of the TDP wave in 1983, Congress won the constituency without any hassles. The party candidate Burgula Ramakrishna Rao won the seat in 1952 elections and became chief minister of Hyderabad State. In 2011, the major gram panchayat turned into municipality. The constituency consists of Farooq Nagar, Kesampet, Kothur, Nandigama, Kondurgu and Chowdary guda mandals. The constituency has a total of 1.85 lakh voters. Of which some 94,068 are males and 90,936 are females and 20 are others.