Poll bugle blares at Warangal East

Warangal: The Congress would be the first to get into election mode in the Warangal East Assembly constituency with former minister Konda Surekha all set to launch her door-to-door campaign from February 9.

Konda Surekha, who won the Warangal East seat in 2014 on BRS (then known as TRS) ticket, was 'forced' to leave that party ahead of 2018 elections following her differences with the party leadership.

It saw Konda Surekha return to the Congress fold. Konda Surekha who contested Parkal seat lost that election to BRS' Challa Dharma Reddy. After some uncertainty, the Konda couple – Surekha and Muralidhar Rao - finally decided to return to Warangal East where the couple has considerable vote bank – both on personal and party count.

It may be mentioned here that though the Congress lost the Warangal East seat to the BRS, it secured more than 55,000 votes in the 2018 election even though its candidate Vaddiraj Ravichandra was a non local. It's said that caste equations are also to favour Surekha who belongs to Padmashali while her husband Konda Murali belongs to Munnuru Kapu. Both the communities have a fair share of voters in the constituency.

The Konda couple is confident of pipping Nannapuneni Narender, the sitting BRS MLA, at the hustings. According to Murali, the BRS MLA is mired in corruption and lost people's trust. Narender who also belongs to Munnuru Kapu community has another potent opponent in Errabelli Pradeep Rao who is likely to contest on BJP ticket. The spat between Narender and Pradeep Rao is well known in the constituency. Pradeep Rao who recently changed loyalties to BJP from BRS is hell-bent on seeing the back of Narender in the next elections.

On the other hand, the speculation is rife that Greater Warangal Mayor Gundu Sudharani is in the race for BRS ticket, this despite the party chief KCR had already made it clear that all the sitting MLA will be fielded again in the next elections. "In any case, the scenario is advantageous to Konda Surekha. She is likely to emerge victorious," TPCC secretary Meesala Prakash told The Hans India.