In Warangal Lok Sabha Polls, BRS’ Sob Story of Betrayal & Defection, Congress’ Immeasurable Confidence

Warangal, one of the 17 parliamentary constituencies in Telangana, designated as a Scheduled Caste (SC) category seat, will go to polls in the fourth phase on May 13. It encompasses parts of Warangal district and consists of seven Legislative Assembly segments — Ghanpur (Station) (SC), Palakurthi, Parkal, Warangal West, Warangal East, Wardhanapet (SC), and Bhupalpalle.

Voter Demographics

As per the 2011 Census, there were a total of 16,66,770 voters in the 2019 Lok Sabha Election. Urban voters comprise 39.5% while those in rural areas constitute 60.5% of the total electorate. The literacy rate of the constituency is 58.79%. Scheduled Castes comprise 19.6% while Scheduled Tribes form 7.5% of the total voters. Hindus form the majority with 92%, while Muslims and Christians are 6.6% and 0.9% of the total voting population.

Political Dynamics

BRS’ Woes: In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BRS’ Pasunoori Dayakar won the seat of Warangal with a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes and 57.7% of the vote share, followed by the Congress which scored 24.7% of the vote while BJP’s was under 8%.

The BRS stands eviscerated since its devastating loss in the 2023 Assembly Elections, making way for a Congress vs BJP battle in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. The party is grappling with a major crisis as it fails to hold on to its leaders, many of whom are abandoning the sinking ship and aligning with the ruling Congress or the BJP. These include MPs, MLAs, MLCs and so on. Five of the nine Lok Sabha seats held by BRS saw defections to the two major national parties. Specifically, P Ramulu from Nagarkurnool and BB Patil from Zaheerabad joined the BJP, while Venkatesh Netha from Peddapalli, Pasunuri Dayakar from Warangal, and G Ranjith Reddy from Chevella switched allegiance to the Congress.

In Warangal, BRS’ woes seem to have no end in sight. It all started with K Chandrashekar Rao’s decision to nominate Kadiyam Kavya, daughter of the current MLA from Ghanpur Station and former MP from Warangal, Kadiyam Srihari from the Lok Sabha constituency. The move was considered with hopes that the leader will be able to curb the anti-incumbency wave against the BRS and help it retain the seat for a third term. However, a major fiasco followed in a series of setbacks, as sitting MP Dayakar, miffed with the decision, dumped the BRS and joined the Congress. Then its former MLA Aroori Ramesh joined the BJP to get a ticket from Warangal. Despite this, KCR did not walk back on his plan, announcing the nomination of Kadiyam Kavya, but blindsided by the father-daughter duo, he was in for another major shocker. Days after the announcement, Kavya, despite having a confirmed BRS ticket, quit the party along with her father to join the Congress, which not only gave her a ticket from the seat, but also positioned her to steer to victory.

In a letter to KCR, Kavya rejected her nomination and said that given the lack of coordination and support from local candidates and the fallen reputation of the BRS, she could no longer contest as a BRS nominee.

With his fingers burnt, KCR weighed his options carefully, steering clear of former deputy CM T Rajaiah who had quit the party but sent feelers that he was open to re-joining if offered a ticket. Instead, he chose Marepalli Sudhir Kumar, a lesser-known but loyal party activist who was involved in the Telangana agitation for separate statehood. Kumar, currently serving as the Zilla Parishad Chairman, comes from the Hanamkonda district and belongs to the Madiga community.

However, the spate of desertions is hardly over as most recently, the mayor of the GWMC, Gundu Sudharani, also quit the party and joined the Congress following 15 BRS corporations who had joined the party earlier.

M Sudhir Kumar has his work out in this constituency as he is neither a well-known candidate nor is he favoured by the general public sentiment which currently harbours an anti-BRS mood. KCR has leveraged his stature and reputation for the survival of the party, but with the rate of desertions and the state of disarray among party leaders and workers, BRS is facing a very real chance of slipping to second or even third place, far below even the 36% vote share it scored in Warangal seat in 2023 state elections.

Congress Emboldened: Having won the 2023 assembly elections, including seven out of eight seats and a vote share of 47.1% in Warangal, the Congress was pre-determined to be in a favourable position in 2024. However, its run so far has been more than incredible. Congress’ aggressive acquisition of BRS leaders right, left and centre has emboldened the party’s leaders and workers, energising their campaign.

Congress’ nominee Kadiyam Kavya is backed by her father Srihari’s four decades of experience, grand stature in SC politics of the state, and his dominance in Warangal. Kadiyam Srihari, an MLA from Ghanpur station, was previously a senior BRS leader and former Deputy Chief Minister in KCR’s first cabinet. Prior to this, Kadiyam held ministerial positions in undivided Andhra Pradesh from 1995 to 2004, where he served in various capacities such as Social Welfare, Education, and later Irrigation under the Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu.

Kavya has been fighting hard to shed the image of “outsider” and has asserted herself as a local candidate. She had been tagged by BJP candidate Aroori Ramesh as an outsider, which she protested strongly, stating that she had been born and brought up in Warangal. She attacked her BJP opponent, accusing him of being a land-grabber, and called for the defeat of the Modi government at the Centre.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s aggressive brand of politics paired with his die-hard fan following and the party’s “six guarantees” have positioned the Congress on the winning path.

Reddy recently made a fiery address endorsing Kadiyam Kavya in front of a huge crowd. He made several promises in this address including the revival of a crucial irrigation project, a new industrial corridor, a mega textile park, an underground drainage system and a recycling unit to solve the garbage problem in Warangal.

The chief minister also took shots at KCR whom he accused of never attending assembly sessions despite being the leader of opposition and blamed him for the failure of the Kaleshwaram project. He also claimed that “Modi had done injustice” to the people by shifting the Kazipet railway coach factory to Maharashtra.

BJP Hoping to Better Performance: In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP was in third place with only 8% of the vote share, whereas in the 2023 assembly polls, its stock jumped to 11.1% of the vote. This time, the party is playing a strong hand in the seat as the BJP has nominated former BRS MLA Aroori Ramesh, promising candidate who has grabbed eyeballs in the constituency.

Aroori Ramesh is a former MLA from the Wardhannapet and held office for two consecutive terms, first in 2014 and then in 2018. However, in the 2023 elections, he faced defeat at the hands of Congress candidate KR Raju. He wields considerable sway in the district and was seen by the BJP as a potential winning chance in Warangal.

Aroori Ramesh made news in March for being caught in a peculiar position in the middle of the streets. On hinting that he would be joining the BJP, the former BRS leader was pursued by former minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao who began taking him to Hyderabad in a car. This was when BJP workers arrived, blocked the car and dragged Ramesh out of the vehicle and a scuffle ensued where his shirt was torn. The whole saga was captured in a video.

Ramesh has attacked Kadiyam Srihari for allegedly undermining Madiga leaders and backstabbing KC. He has also attacked the state government’s performance so far. Ultimately, Ramesh is banking on his stronghold in Wardhannapet and the Modi factor, which is prevalent to some degree in the constituency.

Key Issues

Drainage: The promises of an underground drainage system remain unfulfilled. During rains, waterlogging remains a serious issue in many parts of the city paralysing connectivity and mobility. According to the municipal corporation of the Warangal tri city area, at least 140 colonies are in danger of being submerged every year due to the encroachment of nalas, lakes, ponds and footpaths. The existing drainage system in the area is crumbling and will not be able to keep up with the growing demands of the city which will cause even more problems if the drainage infrastructure is not upgraded.

Healthcare and Infrastructure: Warangal, Hanamkonda, and Kazipet are three major cities in the constituency. They have an open drainage system, which has become a breeding ground for disease carrying mosquitoes and are a source of stench. Last year in September, 80 to 120 dengue fever cases were registered daily as the region registered 12 deaths. There are few hospitals in the area which provide affordable healthcare with private clinics charging Rs 1,000-1,600 per test. The issue will persist unless the sewage system is not fixed, which will continue to keep adding additional pressure on the crumbling healthcare infrastructure which is in urgent need of support from the government.

Unemployment and Emigration: According to on ground reports, while the issue of unemployment is not as bad as neighbouring constituencies, people are discontent. There are some industrial units in the region providing local employment, people believe that the government has not done enough to generate more employment opportunities. The steel factory along with the train wagon factory, which was promised to the people is still pending. Constituents believe that Warangal has a strong foundation to build upon and emerge as an industrial hub so that the youth do not have to emigrate outwards to other urban centres, but the government’s inability to provide them with such opportunities is holding them back.

Development: Development has had a mixed response in Telangana, while the issues of drainage, rural roads and water supply persist, people are excited about the Rs 900-crore university named after a tribal goddess. Despite being the beneficiary of schemes such as Smart Cities Mission, Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the city is still lagging behind.

Water Crisis: There is an acute shortage of water for drinking and irrigation purposes. Farmers in Tirumalayapalli and Rayaparthi are renting water tanks at high costs to irrigate their land. People living in the Greater Warangal Municipal region are suffering due to non-availability of water. The critical water delivery infrastructure is under immense pressure and has been left in a state of disrepair with most of the water being lost due to leakages in pipelines. Despite spending Rs 650 crore under the AMRUT scheme, 24×7 water supply remains a pipe dream. Some localities have reported not having water for six days.

Agricultural Issues: Irrigation remains the top most issue of the farmers in Warangal. Farmers face the prospect of crop loss and failure due to water supply issues. While richer farmers are able to rent water tankers for irrigation, small and medium farmers suffer the most. Crop failure leads to increased debt burden. Moreover, farmers who procured loans from local lenders also face the prospect of exorbitant interest rates and losing their lands. As compensation is mostly delayed, the prospect of crop failure exacerbates the pressure on the farmers.

Infrastructural Development

Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal University: The Centre passed the bill for the construction of Telangana’s first tribal university at a cost of Rs 900 crore last December.

Mancherial-Warangal section of the Nagpur-Vijayawada corridor: The 108-km stretch was announced by the PM last year in July, and is under construction. It connects Maharashtra with Andhra Pradesh through Telangana and reduces travel time between Mancherial and Warangal.

Karimnagar-Warangal Four Laning: The four laning will improve connectivity between Hyderabad and Warangal’s industrial hubs as well as to the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park.

Railway Coach Manufacturing and Repair Factory: PM Modi inaugurated Rs 521 crore Railway coach and manufacturing and repair factory last year in June. It will have the capacity to produce 200 wagons each year and provide local employment opportunities.

Amrit Bharat: Warangal station is set for a makeover after becoming one of the 21 stations in Telangana to be selected in the Centre’s Amrit Bharat scheme, which aims to develop railway stations on par with airports, improve passenger amenities and develop them into high volume cargo centres.

Railway: A major highlight is the tripling of the Kazipet-Balharshah section, which has significantly increased the network’s capacity and efficiency. Additional loop lines have been added at Kazipet and Hasanparthi stations to further enhance operational flexibility. Passenger amenities are also being prioritised, with escalators, lifts, and foot-over bridges planned for various stations. Safety remains a key focus, with the construction of Road Over Bridges at multiple level crossings to ensure seamless and secure travel.