New contender for Kollapur Congress ticket

Nagarkurnool: Tirupatamma, a new face of Congress party from Kollapur, is leant to be pursuing the Congress high command in the state and at the Centre to get the MLA ticket in the 2024 elections. Even though the constituency is regarded as a strong base for the Congress party, leadership crisis plagues the party here.

After the drubbing of Jupally Krishna Rao, a popular local leader who dominated the constituency affairs for more than 20 years, in the hands of Congress candidate Beeram Harshavardhan Reddy, the latter switched loyalties to TRS, leaving the Congress party in the lurch. Since then, there has been no strong local leader to spearhead Congress activities in the constituency effectively.

Amidst these gloomy developments, Tirupatamma, a senior Congress leader involved in the party activities since 1983, is eying the party ticket from the Kollapur constituency. She is striving to win the favour of State and Central leaders, pitting herself as the suitable candidate. Being a woman, she can garner the votes of women folks from the constituency, it is being pointed out. Tirupatamma is the wife of Kollapur Block Congress president Krishnaiah Goud. As the constituency has a lot of BC votes, this may work to her advantage. Earlier, she unsuccessfully contested in the Sarpanch, MPTC and ZPTC elections representing the Congress party. Despite defeats, she created a strong support base in the villages by taking up people's issues. As Rahul Gandhi is expected to enter Palamuru region from October 23, Tirupatamma and her husband are hoping to catch the attention of top brass by garnering huge crowds from the constituency for the Bharat Jodo Yatra.