See-saw battle on cards in Adilabad

​Adilabad: Located more than 300 km away, Adilabad is among the farthest places from Hyderabad. Known as Edlabad during the times of Qutub Shahis, the sleepy town with a population of over one lakh nestled amid lush green forest. The town always played a significant role in politics and political warfare and it is no different in the 2018 Assembly elections.

As in 2014, it's a three-cornered contest in Adilabad Assembly segment this time too, with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) waging no-holds-barred electoral battle. Jogu Ramanna of TRS, a key member of KCR's Cabinet, is aiming for a fourth consecutive win. He already scored hat-trick with victories in 2009, 2012 (by-elections) and 2014. He won on TDP ticket in 2009, but later resigned from the party as MLA when Telangana movement was at its peak.

That necessitated by-elections in 2012 in which he won under TRS banner. Ramanna continued his winning streak in 2014 and became Minister for Environment and Forests in Telangana's first Cabinet. The BJP re-nominated Payal Shankar who lost to Ramanna in the last elections. Like his TRS rival, Shankar also started his political career in TDP before shifting loyalties to the saffron party in 2014. The Congress fielded Gandrath Sujatha, a strong woman candidate and General Secretary of TPCC. The Congress, whose nominees won in 1972, 1989 and 2004, has a traditional base in the constituency. Sujatha, the current candidate, is vocal and has earned a name for herself in the constituency.

“It is difficult to predict a winner now as all three are strong candidates and campaigning hard. We will have to see what happens,” Sadik, a vendor near Adilabad bus stand, told The Hans India. When prodded further, he felt that Payal Shankar (BJP) seems to be popular in some sections because of his social services though the saffron party has no strong traditional base here. Shankar, as some people here recount, has been providing free ambulance services and water supply to the needy people even in villages.

“We are confident of the BJP's victory here. Our leader Payal Shankaranna will win with a majority of over 25,000 votes as he is a social worker, not a politician. He did not lose heart after losing 2014 elections. He continued to work hard. Therefore, his victory is a foregone conclusion this time,” said Vijay, former sarpanch from Jainath mandal near Adilabad and a staunch loyalist of the BJP. He claims that Jogu Ramanna failed to fulfil aspirations of local people and did not take up many development projects.

However, the constituency with 1.78 lakh voters is home to a large number of Muslims and the TRS is banking on them to romp home to victory. “The constituency has 25,000 Muslim voters. They will definitely vote for us. Popular schemes implemented by the TRS such as loan waiver, pensions and Rythu Bandu and insurance will bring us votes from rural areas. We are sure of getting 15,000 to 20,000 votes majority,” said a key aide of Jogu Ramanna.

The Congress, as its supporters say, is banking on its innovative schemes such as Rs 2-lakh loan waiver and attractive free housing scheme. It can also count on support base of the TDP, which was strong here before the bifurcation, and other partners of People's Front – the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS).

As of now, it is no cakewalk for the caretaker Minister as he faces two strong rivals in Gandrath Sujatha and Payal Shankar. The contest is likely to go down to the wire. But political landscape is changing fast in Telangana now. We will have to wait till December 11 to know who will have the last laugh.