Will win Medak hands down

INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK

Vakiti Sunitha Lakshma Reddy was a three-time MLA from Narsapur Assembly Constituency in Medak district. She contested in 1999 and since then she was elected MLA three times in a row. She served as a minister in the cabinets of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, K Rosaiah and N Kiran Kumar Reddy. She held the portfolios of minor irrigation, and women and child welfare. She is contesting as Congress candidate in the Medak MP by-election. The bypoll is necessitated following vacation of the seat by Telangana Chief Minister and TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao. She is pitted against Thurupu Jayaprakash Reddy (BJP) and Kotha Prabhakar Reddy (TRS). She banks on her track record of developing the constituency both as an MLA and a minister, and is confident of victory. Failure of TRS and BJP to perform in the last three months will be a major reason for the Congress win in the elections, Sunitha Lakshma Reddy tells Lata Jain

Why has the Congress party chosen you for the Medak election?
I am a senior party leader and share good relations with all the workers, and that is the reason I have been chosen.

But there might have been a critical analysis about your strength before fielding you
First, I am non-controversial. Being a woman, I surely have an edge over my opponents. I am a three-time MLA from Narsapur Assembly Constituency in the district. I have held portfolios of minor irrigation, and women and child welfare and implemented various welfare schemes like ‘Bangaru Thalli’ which gained popularity even at national level. I have good rapport with party leaders in the district. Both as an MLA and a minister, I took up a lot of development activities in the constituency.

Medak has a great significance for Congress; Indira Gandhi fought election from there. There are high stakes for the party
Our late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a strong connect with Medak and she was instrumental in promoting industries in the area. She laid the foundation to establish the factory for indigenous production of Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICVs) at Yeddumailaram in the district, and many more such ventures. Keeping that in mind, we have to win this seat.

You have two strong contenders – a candidate from TRS, the party in power in Telangana and another from BJP which is in power at the Centre. How will you face this competition?
The Congress party will be highlighting the unfulfilled demands of the people. None of the decisions taken in the very first meeting of the TRS government has been implemented. Failures of TRS-BJP in the past three months will work in the favor of Congress. We took up so many projects when in power. Indiramma Housing was launched to provide houses to the houseless, particularly SCs/ STs/ BCs/ Minorities on a saturation basis. We have launched and successfully implemented several welfare schemes like Indira Jala Prabha, Rachabanda, Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu, Saagu Rythu Rakshana Hashtham (loans to tenant farmers), State Milk Mission, crop loans at zero interest to farmers, Sthree Nidhi Mahila Bank, Sthree Shakti Bhavans, free power to farmers, fee reimbursement to SC/ ST/ BC/ EBC/ Minority students on a saturation basis, bank loans and crop loans to women SHG members and farmers at 'pavala vaddi' (3% annual interest) etc.

TRS is wooing leaders from rival camps. Ministers Harish Rao and Naini Narasimha Reddy are active in your constituency. Doesn’t this give you a sense of insecurity?
With an intention to see that the other parties should not find even agents at some places during the day of polling, TRS has been attracting leaders from other parties and they are focussing on roping in lowest level leaders like panchayat sarpanches, ward members and even booth-level leaders. TRS is cleverly playing a mind game. But all these mind games and strategies don’t disturb us.

Will Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi come for campaigning to Medak?
No, they will not be able to come.

Congress claims it was Sonia Gandhi who gave Telangana. If that is so, her presence will benefit your candidature.
We have several senior leaders who will campaign for Congress in Medak. She can’t be present everywhere. We have other crucial elections coming up in other states.

How does your party plan to take the campaign forward?
We plan to hold constituency-wise meetings in all the seven segments. The party is likely to hold its first meeting in Patancheru and Sangareddy, followed by another interaction with partymen at Gajwel and Dubbaka. The party has also scheduled two meetings at Narsapur and Medak on a single day. The party may hold an exclusive meeting in Siddipet. All the top Congress leaders from the new State will attend the meetings. As part of its aggressive posturing, Congress party has appointed in-charges for seven Assembly segments –. Damodar Raj Narasimha (Sangareddy), Srinivas Goud (Siddipet), Muthyam Reddy (Dubbak), Geetha Reddy (Gajwel), Nandeeswar Goud (Patancheru) and D K Aruna (Medak). They are expected to stay at the constituency headquarters and supervise the campaign.

Our focus of campaign would be taking on the TRS and the BJP. TPCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah, leader of the opposition in the Assembly K Jana Reddy and Rajya Sabha Member V Hanumantha Rao will address meetings at important places.

What are the drawbacks of your opponents?
BJP candidate T Jayaprakash Reddy for his frequent defection to other parties. We also will expose the political inexperience of Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, the TRS candidate.

What do you think of the recent survey conducted by TRS?
It was a flop show. The survey was meaningless. One fails to understand why they asked for details of properties, vehicles and bank accounts. Did they ask any individual as to what were his debts? How many loans had he taken? How would he repay them? If they want to judge a person’s socio-economic conditions, are loans not a part of it?

What is your opinion about the farm loan waiver by KCR government?
The euphoria and exuberance of the people of Telangana, especially among the farming community, has turned into resentment and heartburn over the KCR administration's move with regard to the loan waiver scheme. Farm loan waiver of up to Rs 1 lakh to all farmers was one of the main poll promises made by TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao. He later changed his promise and said that the loan would be made applicable to only those farmers who had availed the loan between June 1, 2013, and June 1, 2014. Moreover, the loan waiver would be only for crop loans and not for allied sectors like poultry, livestock etc. Even now there is no clarity.

There does not seem much enthusiasm among senior Congress leaders to campaign in Medak
It is wrong to think so. All the leaders of Congress are determined to win the seat against all odds and there is a great support. Senior leaders like Digvijay Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sachin Pilot, Jyothiraditya Scindia, Azharuddin and Jaipal Reddy will be coming for campaigning. Along with these top leaders, a big bunch of local Congress leaders will accompany me during the campaign.