Know Your MLA: A checkered political career

Warangal: Not with standing his huge popularity in Bhupalpally constituency, Gandra Satyanarayana Rao’s attempt to make it to the Assembly remained unfulfilled until 2023. The way he lost the 2014 and 2018 elections gave an idiomatic impression – Always a bridesmaid, never the bride. But Satyanarayana Rao, popular as Sathenna, hit back with a vengeance defeating his arch-rival Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy in 2023.

Sathenna started his political career with the Telugu Desam; however, his checkered profile finds him associated with almost all major parties. He contested for Bhupalpally constituency on a BJP ticket in 2014 and All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) in 2018. In between, Sathenna also sailed with the then-ruling TRS. Finally, he joined the Congress when his old friend Revanth Reddy became the TPCC president. Despite the setbacks in the previous elections, the 59-year-old Sattenna who hails from Buddharam village under Ghanapuram mandal maintained proximity with the people and that proved crucial in the outcome of the 2023 elections.

“Efforts are on providing better road connectivity between the fringe villages in the forest and the urban areas, besides bringing Godavari waters to the district. The focus is on providing amenities for the tribals living in the remote corners of the district,” says Sattenna, who also eyes industrial development in his constituency.