Eighteen-year-old Palvai Harish Babu, a budding medico, just got up to start his day when the landline phone rang in the modest Sirsilk Mills Officers quarters in the industrial town of Kagaznagar in Kumaram Bhim Asifabad district (then Adilabad), about 280 km from Hyderabad on September 15, 1999.
The caller on the other side broke the shocking news that his father, Palvai Purshotham Rao, a three-time MLA, had been shot by People’s War Group naxalites in his Praja Karyalayamu (People’s office). Harish ran out of the house even as his wailing mother and others tried to find out what was happening. By the time he reached Dr. Madhu’s Hospital on the Railway Station Road in Kagaznagar, he saw his father’s bullet-riddled body. Not only his father but three of his gunmen were also gunned down by the naxalites.
Elections to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly were just three days away in 1999 when the killing of the soft-spoken Purshotham Rao, popularly called the ‘Prajala Manishi’ (People’s man), sent shock waves through the entire Andhra Pradesh. Till 1989, Purshotham Rao was an Independent MLA and chose to contest the 1999 election on Telugu Desam Party ticket.
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The TDP was in power and was seeking re-election when the tragic incident happened. The PWG naxalites resorted to violence to create a sensation of targetting a ruling party leader and terrorising the voters in the North Telangana region, where the outlawed group had virtual sway.
Shocked by the turn of events, Harish was all at sea as he and his elder sister Shravanthi were always kept away from politics. But, on November 30, 2023, the political fortunes of Dr. Palvai Harish Babu took a full circle as he defeated seasoned Bharat Rashtra Samiti sitting MLA Koneru Konappa and IPS officer-turned-politician Dr. R.S. Praveen Kumar in the Assembly elections from Sirpur constituency to create a record of sort. After a stint in the Congress party, he switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party and won the election.
Dr. Harish also is among the 15 other doctors, who were elected to the Telangana Assembly elections. Interestingly, as many as 50 new comers will make their debut in the 119 strong Telangana Legislative Assembly that will be convened shortly.
Curiously enough Dr. Harish is also the second MLA in the present Assembly, whose father was killed in the hands of the naxalites. Another MLA is Dr Chittem Parnika Reddy, elected from Makthal, whose father, Chittem Venkateswara Reddy, a youth Congress leader and son for former MLA Chittem Narsi Reddy, was gunned down by naxalites in Narayanpet in Mahabubnagar district on August 15, 2005. Mr. Narsi Reddy too was killed in the attack.
The BJP MLA from Sirpur stands out because his late father and mother, Palvai Rajyalaxmi, both served as MLAs of the constituency, which is famous for Sirpur Paper Mill and now defunct Sirsilk Mills.
“Ours is a modest simple middle class family and my father always used to keep us away from politics. I never had a chance to think of politics. My father was killed by the naxalites in 1999 and my mother reluctantly entered the fray to fight the bye-election after his death. She won the elections. Even at that time, I never thought about entering politics. I went on to complete my MBBS from Osmania Medical College and PG in Orthopaedics from Sriramachandra University in Chennai. It was only in 2009 that I began to explore the possibility of trying my luck in politics,” Dr. Harish Babu, now 44-years tells The Hindu.
The budding politician says in 2009, he was caught between choosing politics or profession. “What will happen if I fail in politics? So, I decided to take up medical profession and worked in Hyderabad. Then, I felt the need to be with the people of the backward Sirpur constituency. I returned to Kagaznagar and set up a 100-bed Praja Life Care Hospital, which became my lifeline. This gave me the chance to come closer to the people and know their problems better,” he said.
In 2018, he tried his hand at the electoral battle by contesting on a Congress ticket from the Sirpur constituency and lost the polls to sitting MLA Koneru Konappa. Undeterred, he continued to serve the people. “For seven long years, I worked relentlessly for the people and even spent 45 days in jail for agitating for the cause of Podu land rights to the Adivasis,” he recalls, adding that this endeared him to the poor people.
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Throughout his election campaign, Dr. Harish Babu only made one appeal. “Please give one chance to this Opposition leader, who was with you for the last seven years. That worked, and I won the election this time,” he says with a lot of relief. No sooner was he elected, the doctor-MLA had set his eyes on what needed to be done for the constituency.
“My immediate task is to get the ₹11,000 crore greenfield national highway laid from Tandur to Kautala, covering a distance of 65 km. This will be the gateway to the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra and an alternative route to enter the neighbouring State. Five backward mandals in my constituency will get good road connectivity,” he says.
Another priority is the demand for the revival of the Pranahita project. By linking Pranahita to Yellampally, five constituencies in East Adilabad will get irrigation potential, Dr. Harish says pointing out that he wants 100 villages in his constituency to get road connectivity.
Paper boy to MLA
From a paper delivery boy to a stringer of a vernacular daily and now a legislator of Khanapur Assembly seat in Telangana’s tribal heartland of Nirmal district, the Congress party’s nominee, 37-year-old Raj Gond Adivasi, Vedma Bhojju, sprang a surprise with his maiden electoral success.
Mr. Bhojju, a well-qualified Adivasi man from Kallurguda, a tribal hamlet in Adilabad district’s Utnoor mandal, defeated the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS)’s nominee, Johnson Naik Bhukya, an owner of a US-based IT consultancy, from the ST-reserved Khanapur Assembly constituency by a margin of 4,702 votes.
Riding on the Congress wave, he emerged victorious from the Khanapur seat in a keenly fought triangular contest. His victory assumed significance as he had helped the Congress breach the BRS’s bastion, enabling the grand old party to win the seat after nearly three decades.
The BRS had lost its sitting Khanapur seat, which it won twice since the formation of Telangana in 2014. Notably, Mr. Bhojju trounced Mr. Johnson Naik, a college mate of the BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao (KTR).
The BRS replaced the sitting MLA Rekha Naik with Mr. Johnson Naik, who is known as a close friend of Mr. KTR.
The BJP candidate and former MP Ramesh Rathod came third. As an Adivasi student leader, Mr. Bhojju endeared himself to Adivasis by actively spearheading a mass movement to press for a university in the tribal region and safeguard the rights of Adivasis under the aegis of the Adivasi Hakkula Porata Samithi.
He capitalized on anti-incumbency by prominently highlighting the woes of homeless poor people, tribal farmers and other local issues during his extensive electioneering across the ST-reserved constituency.
He struck a right chord with the Adivasis who form a major chunk of electorate in the constituency reaping rich electoral dividends.
He coined a slogan choosing between “a poor man and an NRI” touching upon local issues, adding local flavour to his electioneering, appears to have worked in his favour.
The new legislator, a protagonist of a separate Telangana movement and agitations for Adivasis’ rights, has set his sights on the improvement of road connectivity, housing, irrigation, health and education facilities in Khanapur constituency.
“I hail from an impoverished family and my parents still live in the Indiramma house allotted to us by the then Congress government in the erstwhile combined Andhra Pradesh,” says Mr. Bhojju.
My selection as the party nominee for Khanapur seat shows the commitment of the Congress party to empowerment of tribals and other weaker sections.
I pursued my higher education against all odds and used to stay in a watchman’s room and work as a paper delivery boy while studying my degree course in Adilabad, Mr. Bhojju, who holds M.A, L.L.B and B.Ed degrees, recalls while speaking to The Hindu.
“I will strive to ensure the setting up of a Government Degree college in the constituency, repairs to the Kadem dam and augment irrigation facilities in the tribal region,” the newly elected legislator asserts, reiterating his party’s resolve to implement the ‘six guarantees’ promised in the manifesto.
26-year-old techie
Another political newcomer Yashaswini Mamidala of the Congress party became the youngest woman legislator from Palakurthi in Jangaon district in Telangana’s third Assembly.
The 26-year-old techie, who hails from Nagarkurnool district, trounced the Panchayat Raj Minister and the six-time MLA Errabelli Dayakar Rao by a thumping margin of 47,634 votes.
The BRS senior leader Mr. Dayakar Rao had lost the electoral battle at the hands of the political debutant. The young techie, an office manager at a California-based private firm, tasted success in her maiden electoral debut.
Ms. Yashaswini reaffirms her party’s commitment to fulfilling the six poll guarantees to usher in the welfare of all and Telangana’s inclusive development under the Indiramma regime of the Congress party. “I will donate my MLA’s salary for the development of the constituency,” she asserts.
Then there is Thota Laxmi Kantha Rao, the newly elected MLA from the Jukkal SC constituency, who is a seasoned and accomplished business with a remarkable career spanning several prestigious organisations in the broadcast industry to Nutraceuticals industry.
In his maiden entry into the Assembly, Mr. Laxmi Kantha Rao clearly understands the transformative power of education and is firm on enhancing the educational facilities from school to the university level.
Another interesting MLA to get noticed is Madan Mohan Rao, the first-time legislator from Yellareddy constituency in Kamareddy district. An NRI, Mr. Madan Mohan Rao, owns software companies in the USA. A notable novice to make her presence in this election is Lasya Nandita, a software engineer, who won her maiden election from Secunderabad SC constituency, once represented by her father late G. Sayanna.
Former Minister and BJP National Vice-President D.K. Aruna, aunt of Dr. Parnika Reddy, says she is a reluctant politician. “My niece was not interested in politics, but circumstances brought her into the electoral battle. Her brother, Chittem Abhijay Reddy, was six months short of 25 years and not eligible to contest the elections. As Makthal is our home turf, Parnika was preferred because of her qualification,” she said.
Dr. Parnika, who is pursuing her PG in medicine, was around 13 years old when her father was gunned down along with grandfather Chittem Narsi Reddy, then MLA from Narayanpet constituency. Ms. Aruna recalls how the family wanted Abhijay to take the plunge into politics. “Parnika will surely be an asset in the Assembly, given her educational background,” Ms. Aruna says.
“In my 42 years of service in the Legislature, the only time there was a vast range of professionals was in 1982 when N. T. Rama Rao’s Telugu Desam Party won the maiden election. That House had people from different backgrounds. But, so many highly qualified professionals as MLAs is unheard of”Soma SadaramFormer Legislature Secretary of Telangana
Former Legislature Secretary of Telangana Soma Sadaram said he has not seen such a wide range of educationally qualified legislators. “In my 42 years of service in the Legislature, the only time there was a vast range of professionals was in 1982 when N. T. Rama Rao’s Telugu Desam Party won the maiden election. That House had people from different backgrounds. But, so many highly qualified professionals as MLAs is unheard of,” he says.
Quite interestingly, data compiled by the Forum for Good Governance points out that 80 new members of the Telangana Assembly have cases against them. But, all these cases are not related to crime, and some of these pertain to ones filed during the statehood agitation. The breakdown of the cases shows 50 Congress MLAs, 19 (BRS), seven (BJP) and MIM (four) have cases. In the previous House, 65 members had cases against them.
The Forum expressed concern that election after election, the number of MLAs having criminal cases is increasing. It noted that in spite of Supreme Court directions that political parties should not give ticket to persons with criminal antecedents the political parties are taking winnability as the criteria.
The election of youngsters with good academic track records comes as a whiff of fresh air in the new Assembly. The Telangana Legislative Assembly, this time a mix of seniors and rank newcomers, will enter the portals of the sacred House. A lot of youngsters have won the elections on different party tickets. A whopping 50 newcomers coming to the Assembly are never heard of in the annals of the Telugu-speaking States.
“A senior legislator should give orientation to these 50 MLAs on the conduct of the House. All of them should devote their energies to participating in Assembly discussions. They should get a firm grip over the important subjects and raise their voice wherever necessary”M. Padmanabha ReddyPresident of Forum for Good Governance
M. Padmanabha Reddy, president of Forum for Good Governance, exuded confidence that the ensuing new Assembly will be a perfect ground for the debutant MLAs to learn the nuances of Parliamentary democracy. “A senior legislator should give orientation to these 50 MLAs on the conduct of the House. All of them should devote their energies to participating in Assembly discussions. They should get a firm grip over the important subjects and raise their voice wherever necessary,” he says.
He hoped that the present Assembly will not witness one-sided business as was seen in the last two Houses. “Speaker should allow the members to raise questions and there should be fruitful discussion that benefits all,” he noted.
