Gajwel becomes ‘talk of the town’

Gajwel constituency in Medak district has become focal point in Telangana politics. TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao has zeroed in on this Assembly constituency to test his luck in the coming elections.

Rao would be entering the electoral fray for Assembly elections after a gap of over a decade. Rao, in 2004, had contested from Siddipet and scored a thumping victory over his nearest rival, Jilla Srinivas of TDP, whom he defeated by over a margin of 45,000 votes. Rao shares special affinity with this constituency because he scored a double hat trick of wins from here in 1985, 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2004 elections besides 2001 by-poll. After Chandrasekhar Rao shifted to national politics, his nephew T Harish Rao took over the mantle and turned Siddipet into a party fortress by scoring landslide victories in four consecutive elections.

Though Harish offered to shift to another constituency, KCR preferred Gajwel. The reason behind this, party sources say, is because of the strong sentiment which is attached with Rao’s farmhouse in Erravalli village, which falls in this constituency. The TRS chief, they say, is of the opinion that Telangana issue made headway and reached its logical conclusion only after he started visiting the farmhouse.

The other reason they say is the proximity of Gajwel constituency to Warangal and Nalgonda districts, whose border villages are less than 40 km from here. This will help Rao to concentrate on these constituencies so that a thumping victory can be ensured for party candidates.