It was in 2019 that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Dharmapuri Arvind created a record of sorts by writing a bond and declaring that he would quit his Lok Sabha membership if he failed to get the much-awaited Turmeric Board for Nizamabad district.
Riding on the promise, turmeric farmers in this progressive constituency voted for Mr. Arvind in a big way and ensured the defeat of incumbent MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha, daughter of then Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao.
Five years down the line with yet another election scheduled on May 13, the promised Turmeric Board is nowhere in sight despite a promise made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah just two days ago that the National Turmeric Board will surely be set up in Nizamabad only.
During the last Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself announced the setting up of the Turmeric Board. However, there is no clarity whether the Board will come up in Nizamabad or elsewhere.
The failed promise of Turmeric Board is very much visible in Armoor, Nizamabad Rural and Balkonda Assembly segments of Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency. Surely, Mr. Arvind, who is seeking re-election for the second time faces this question during his campaign but is now focussed on impressing the voters so that they vote for the BJP.
In the 2014 elections, Ms. Kavitha made her political debut defeating the Congress nominee Madhu Yaskhi, the sitting MP. But, in the 2019 elections, the BJP nominee Mr. Arvind turned the tables on her by dealing a humiliating defeat. Since then the BJP MP consolidated his position in the parliamentary constituency but lost the Assembly elections from Korutla last November.
In the last Assembly elections, in the seven segments of the Lok Sabha constituency, BRS won (Balkonda, Kortula and Jagtial), Congress (Bodhan and Nizamabad Rural) and BJP (Nizamabad Urban and Armoor).
This time the Congress has roped in veteran Congress leader and MLC Tatiparthy Jeevan Reddy as the candidate while the BRS, trying to put up a brave face after the Assembly election debacle chose former MLA Bajireddy Goverdhan as the party nominee. Both are pitted against Mr. Arvind of the BJP.
The election campaign centres around the Turmeric Board, sufferings of Gulf migrants and the promise of reopening the sick Nizam Sugars Limited Factory at Shakkarnagar near Bodhan and one near Metpally in old Karimnagar district.
While farmers and others say Turmeric Board is still an issue, Turmeric Farmers association leader Kotapati Narasimha Naidu says that the Prime Minister has made it clear that a Board will surely be set up. “We have to take his promise in good faith. Last season, turmeric was sold at a record price in the Nizamabad market yard, which is good sign,” he said. He claimed that it will not be a big issue this time.
However, Emigrants Welfare Forum founder Mandha Bheem Reddy said the failed promise of the Turmeric Board and the Gulf migrants’ crisis are the two key issues in the Nizamabad parliamentary constituency. “No candidate can say that Turmeric Board is not an election issue here. All the candidates are talking about the welfare of the Gulf migrants,” he pointed out. Nizamabad LS has as many as 3.75 lakh Gulf migrant families and returnees votes and no party can ill afford to ignore this section.
The Congress and the BRS candidates are not mincing a word to lash out at the BJP nominee for failing to get the Turmeric Board. They pointed out that the promise made by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister is nothing but an eye wash and trying to take the voters for a ride once again. Unfazed by the criticism Mr. Arvind goes about his campaign highlighting the good work done by the BJP government at the Centre and how the need of the hour is to vote for Mr. Modi.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Nizamabad and made a grandiose announcement that the Turmeric Board will be set up. If the Centre was serious, why did it not mention where the Turmeric Board will be located?,” Mr. Jeevan Reddy pointed out and predicted that Mr. Arvind will pay a price for his false promise.
Polarisation of votes is quite visible as the constituency has a considerable minority population in Nizamabad, Armoor, Bodhan and Jagtial segments. Indications available suggest that Muslims, who backed the BRS last time, might shift their preference for the Congress.
“We are sure to get the backing of the majority of the Muslim voters, who are impressed by the Nyaya Patra of the Congress and Rahul Gandhi’s leadership,” says Taher Bin Hamdaan, Telangana Urdu Academy chairman.
Going by the prevailing mood, it appears to be a straight fight between the Congress and BJP while BRS too is not lagging behind.
