Know Your MLA: With a sole focus on constituency devpt

Sangareddy: A doctor turned politician, Patlolla Sanjeeva Reddy won the Narayankhed Assembly segment in the Telangana Legislative Assembly elections 2023 as the Congress candidate.

Sanjeeva Reddy began his political journey in the BJP during the 2018 elections but later joined the Congress to further his political career. It is one of the most backward districts presenting a complex political landscape, as the constituency is located on the Telangana State border with Karnataka, with four mandals in Narayankhed town.

The Andole constituency was a Congress bastion for long, like many assembly segments in the State. The demise of Kishta Reddy, a sitting MLA from this assembly seat, resulted in a by-election. The dominant factor in the political landscape here is the family members of Patlolla and Shetkar, both contesting for the assembly and parliament constituencies in the district from the Congress party. However, the constituency had gone to Suresh Kumar Shetkar in the 2018 assembly elections as an alliance candidate, resulting in Sanjeeva Reddy joining the BJP, paving the way for the BRS to take advantage and win the seat. However, Sanjeeva Reddy’s return to the Congress, BRS candidate facing strong anti-incumbency, the development plank of the Congress, and his accessibility to the people and the cadre – all these factors have made Sanjeeva Reddy register a win in the 2023 assembly elections. However, Sanjeeva Reddy, like his predecessors, faces the task of resolving the issues like drinking water problems and the migration of people for livelihoods to other places from Narayankhed.