More ayes than nays for the Speaker Sirikonda Madhusudana Chary

Bhupalpally: Haven’t been to Bhupalpally for the last three years or so? You are in for a huge surprise. Once a smeary coal town now boasts a new look with widened roads and glittering central lighting. The transformation of the town that did not happen in last three decades since that first piece of the coal was dug in this region in 1988 was a reality in just three years.

All that mattered for the previous governments was how much they dug out coal, nalla bangaram in the local parlance, and not the aspirations of the people. This despite Bhupalpally region is one of the highest producers of coal in the State-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL). All that was possible

Since the formation of Telangana State, it has been a wonderful windfall for Bhupalpally, represented by the Speaker Sirikonda Madhusudana Chary. Half-a-decade ago, Bhupalpally is not even a gram panchayat. In fact, Bhupalpally was a hamlet in Kamalapur gram panchayat before coal mining was began here.

Thereafter the hamlet village had become a gram panchayat, Nagar panchayat and now a municipality. Against this backdrop, creation of smaller districts by the TRS government aimed at decentralisation of the administration has come like a shot in the arm for Bhupalpally.

Since then the people in the coal town, who hitherto depended on Parkal and Warangal for their necessities, started to witness the fruits of development at their doorsteps.

In an exclusive interview with The Hans India, Speaker Sirikonda Madhusudana Chary shared his views about development, ensuing elections and his antagonists.

THI: How your prospects are in the upcoming elections?
Chary: There are certain elements - Party, Leader of the party, Development and the Candidate - that play key role in the outcome of polls. The TRS is led by KCR who needs no introduction. The development that took place in the last four years is in front of everyone’s eye. Moreover, I spent better part of last four years in Bhupalpally, mostly with the poor as part of my Palle Nidra (night stays with rural folk). I may be Speaker of the Assembly but whenever time permitted I spent time with the Chenchus.

THI: Tell us about your special love for the Chenchus.
Chary: I observed that the fruits of democracy a mirage for Chenchus as they continue to live in penury still surviving on rats, cats, squirrels and other animals they hunt. I adopted the Chenchu colonies in Bhupalpally constituency and has been looking after their healthcare besides providing amenities to them. Until I showed them, they had never seen Warangal and Hyderabad and knew nothing about urban life. Such was their pathetic story. Now they are civilised and mingling with the mainstream of life.

THI: How far you achieved your goals of development?
Chary: Of the 3,400 two-bedroom houses (2BHK) sanctioned to the constituency, around 1,000 are completed and another 2,000 are in various stages of construction. I have guts to say that the 1,000 double bedroom housing complex nearing completion on the suburbs of Bhupalpally town is something special that you would not find anywhere in the country.

THI: What about your opponents and rebels in your party?
Chary: The development of Bhupalpally itself speaks volumes for TRS party and me. It took almost 500 years for Hyderabad and 800-odd years for Warangal to show what they are now. Bhupalpally which is not even a gram panchayat some 50 years ago is now a district headquarters. All in a span of four years and more developmental works in pipeline, and what else I have to prove to show my workmanship?