Will Telangana Congress chief get re-elected? YSRC, TDP voters hold key

Voters who backed the YSR Congress and Telugu Desam party in the 2014 elections are likely to be the deciding factor in Huzurnagar constituency, from where Telangana Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy is seeking re-election. YSRC, which has chosen not to contest the December seven Telangana Assembly election, and TDP candidates polled more than 25,000 votes each in this segment in the previous poll. The TDP of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is a partner in the Congress-led alliance along with CPI and TJS, named “Praja Kutami” (People's Front), for the upcoming Telangana election giving a boost to Reddy's electoral prospects.

But, at the same time, YSRC leaders said the supporters of their outfit would not support Reddy as the Congress has allied with TDP, its arch-rival in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, and their votes would go to the TRS. Reddy, a former pilot in Indian Air Force, is betting on the “anti-incumbency factor” and the support of the alliance partners while his opponent Saidi Reddy (TRS), an NRI and IT professional, is counting on beneficiaries of various government schemes in the constituency. Uttam Kumar Reddy won the Huzurnagar seat by a margin of 23,924 votes over his nearest TRS rival Kasoju Sankaramma in the previous election in which YSRC contestant G Srikanth Reddy polled 29,657 votes, and Telugu Desam Party…