All eyes are on the key Assembly constituency of Sircilla, the textile hub of Telangana, formerly known as “Sirishala” meaning wealth hub, in the bygone era.
Situated on the banks of the Manair river, Sircilla earned the dubious distinction as the “epicentre” of weavers’ suicides” due to crisis in power loom sector in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh.
It shed its negative image and repositioned itself as a major textile hub, home to 30,352 power looms, over the years particularly after the formation of Telangana in 2014.
Working president of the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Industries Minister K.T.Rama Rao, who is also the son of the incumbent Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao, is aiming for a fifth straight victory in Sircilla, a Communist party bastion turned BRS citadel.
Veteran Communist leader Chennamaneni Rajeshwara Rao represented the Sircilla constituency five terms - four times (1967, 1978, 1985, 1994) on behalf of the CPI and once (2004) as the TDP candidate.
The constituency is set to witness an interesting battle of ballots on November 30 with the Congress fielding K.K.Mahander Reddy, 62, an advocate by profession, who had contested from Sircilla thrice in 2009, 2010 (by-election) and 2018 elections unsuccessfully.
In 2009, Mr.Reddy, who contested as an independent candidate, lost by a slender margin of 171 votes to Mr.Rama Rao.
In the last elections (2018), Mr.Rama Rao defeated Mr.Reddy, who contested on behalf of the Congress party, by a huge margin of 88,000-plus votes.
A native of Namapur in Mustabad mandal of Rajanna Sircilla district, Mr.Reddy is now extensively touring the constituency relying on “anti-incumbency” and the Congress party’s six guarantees to turn the tide in his favour.
BJP nominee G.Rani Rudrama Reddy, who holds post-graduation degrees in computer applications as well as journalism, is harping on the party’s main slogans of “double-engine government” and “women empowerment” apart from development of Sircilla power loom cluster to garner support of voters.
Weavers, including power loom workers, form a formidable force of the total electorate of 2,44,426 in Sircilla constituency.
Family members of Gulf migrant workers and Gulf returnees, beedi workers constitute a sizeable chunk of the voters in the constituency comprising Yellareddypet, Gambhiraopet, Sircilla, Thangallapally, Mustabad and Veernapally mandal. The weavers and the working class hold the key in deciding the electoral fortunes of the 21 candidates in the election race from Sircilla seat.
Political analysts feel that the poll outcome will be determined by the issues concerning the power loom weavers and workers, Gulf expatriates and returnees and other working class in the textile hub.
The ruling BRS’s campaign is centered on its claims of expanding irrigation cover, making Sircilla a bustling textile hub by a slew of initiatives, such as giving an impetus to the apparel industry and placing bulk orders of 1 crore Bathukamma sarees worth over ₹350 crore from the State government every year, ensuring sustainable income for the weavers.
The Rajanna Sircilla district has a medical college, a JNTU-H college, an agricultural college, a KG to PG institution and various other educational institutions. However, the Opposition parties contest the claims of the persons at the helm on “reverse migration” to the textile hub owing to the revival of the power loom sector.
A large number of youth mainly belonging to the tribal villages in Veernapalli, Yellareddypet and various other mandals in the constituency are still toiling hard in Gulf countries mostly as unskilled workers to support their families back home, points out independent candidate Donikeni Krishna, who entered the poll fray to highlight the cause of Gulf migrants.
They are earning valuable foreign exchange for the country and it is the bounden duty of the governments to formulate a comprehensive NRI policy and set up a Welfare Board for Gulf workers, he insisted.
The traditional handloom sector needs the patronage of the governments to keep the rich weaving traditions alive, opines Bhaskar, a weaver of Sardar Nagar in Sircilla.
It is imperative to make weavers the owners of the units, provide them with high-speed air jet looms and above all empower them politically to bring about qualitative change in their lives, says another weaver of the textile town.
