Gunda Prakash Rao crowned Warangal Mayor

Warangal: Even though he may have embattled many a tough situation in his political career that spanned over four decades, but the last four months for Gunda Prakash Rao, who on Saturday was crowned unopposed as the Mayor of Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC), was the toughest of all.

Such was the neck and neck contest to become the first citizen of the tri-cities. The race for the coveted post started with Nannapuneni Narender stepping down from the Mayor post after he was elected Warangal East MLA in December 2018.

With the TRS leadership busy with elections to gram panchayats followed by Lok Sabha, the suspense and speculation surrounding Mayor post lagged to this far with quite a few aspirants pinning their hopes to grab the opportunity. Interestingly, all those aspired for the post had decent curriculum vitae (CV) in regard with their political track record.

Apart from Gunda Prakash Rao, who represents 26th Division, the others Vaddiraj Ganesh (27th Division), Boinpally Ranjith Rao (48th Division), Nagamalla Jhansi (56th Division), Deputy Mayor Khaja Sirajuddin and others – made a gallant effort to catch the eye of TRS leadership to lay their hands on the Mayor seat. But in the end, Prakash Rao's vast experience that made all the difference when the party leadership sat to finalise the candidature.

It's said that equations such as community and region also favoured Prakash Rao who belongs to Arya Vysya, a powerful community in Warangal. It may be noted here that the TRS leadership wanted to give the forward castes as it was earlier held by Narender who hails from backward class community. His followers say that Prakash Rao's case is full of missed opportunities during his stint with the Congress. Although he held various positions in the Congress, he never got an opportunity to become legislator.

He first became Councillor in 1981 and again in 1986, then as Corporator in 1995 and the current term that commenced in 2016. He also held the post of Board of Director for Kakatiya Urban Development Authority (KUDA), and Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) Limited. This apart, he was elected thrice as General Secretary of Warangal Chamber of Commerce. With little under two years to go for the end of his term, the 65-year-old Prakash Rao has a tough task ahead of him. Speaking to The Hans India, he said: "I will speed up the developmental activity in Greater Warangal that is already in progress.

I will not disappoint the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao who gave me this opportunity." "Even though Prakash Rao hails from an affluent family, he is a man of downto-earth nature, and mingles with all irrespective their social classes. TRS leadership is spot on in selecting him as the Mayor," former SAAP Director and senior TRS leader Rajanala Srihari said.