Parkal voters unpredictable

Parkal: Parkal is known for its bravery since the times of Indian Independence. Especially, the locals' courage to stand against the despotic rule of Nizam, notwithstanding the carnage inflicted by the Razakars on September 2, 1948, just about a fortnight before the annexation of Hyderabad State to Indian Union, indicates that it's a land of fighters.

Parkal, which was part of Karimnagar district in 1950 was a town municipality. In 1965, Parkal was merged with Warangal district. As a consequence of that it lost some area and population and was demoted to major Gram Panchayat. During this period, Jangeti Odelu worked as the Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat for 18 years. In 2011, Parkal was upgraded to Nagar Panchayat. Subsequently with the merger of Rajipeta and Sitarampur villages, Parkal was elevated to Municipality in 2018.

With the chairperson post is reserved for the SC category, Parkal municipality has 22 wards with the number of electorates is 25,255. The number of women (12,928) voters is slightly more than men (12,327). Of which, the BC voters constitute little over 16,000 while the number of SCs is over 6,500. Despite its proximity to tribal area, the number of ST voters in Parkal town is below 300. The revenue of the town which has a population of nearly 35,000 is around Rs 3 crore. The town has 15 slum localities.

The political picture of Parkal Assembly presents that the locals had patronised almost all the major parties including TRS, Congress, Telegu Desam, BJP and CPI in last three decades. While the TRS and the Congress continue to hold their sway over the town, the TDP and BJP appear to be on wane.

Although the Bharatiya Janata Party won Parkal Assembly constituency twice - 1985 and 1989, Bharatiya Jana Sangh once in 1967, there after the saffron party failed to win the trust of the people. Despite this fact, it's believed that BJP could be a force to reckon with, of late, considering that party's performance in the Lok Sabha elections last year. The educated sections in the town appear to have a soft corner for the BJP especially after the abrogation of Article 370. It's learnt that the aspirants who fail to get the TRS ticket have their hopes pinned on BJP.

In any case, the TRS loyalists who have been with that party for a long time could tilt the ruling party boat in case they don't get tickets, according to sources in that party. With Friday (January 10) is being the last day for nominations, a clear picture would emerge on January 14, the last day for withdrawal of nominations.

Like any other municipality, Parkal is also riddled with many issues such as drinking water, drainage, damaged roads etc.

Meanwhile, on the last day of the nominations, the authorities have received 176 nominations for the 22 wards in the municipality.