Firebrand Adivasi woman teacher takes on seasoned politicians in Adilabad LS

Tribal-dominated Adilabad ST reserved constituency bordering Maharashtra is all set to witness a keen triangular fight between the ruling Congress, the main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with all parties leaving no stone unturned to come out victorious in the prestigious Lok Sabha elections on May 13.

Rank new comer and a tribal teacher Atram Suguna of the Congress will be making her political debut and take on seasoned politician Godam Nagesh, former Minister and ex-MP of the BJP and former MLA Atram Sakku of the BRS in the tribal heartland where the Adivasi versus the Lambada sub-section of the ST fight is serious.

Interestingly, all three candidates are Adivasis thus fighting among themselves to split the influential community votes. This leaves the parties to woo the Lambadas, who can make or mar the chances of any party.

The total electorate of Adilabad parliamentary constituency is 16,45,857 with 8,42,888 women voters outnumbering men who constitute 8,02,882. There are 87 transgender voters in the constituency.

Since the formation of the constituency in 1952, in the 18 general and bye-elections, the Congress candidates have won eight times, followed by the TDP (six times), the BRS twice, the Socialist Party nominee once and the BJP candidate trouncing the Congress and the BRS in 2019 elections.

In the 2019 elections, Soyam Bapu Rao, sitting BRS MLA joined the BJP and won the election securing 3,77,374 votes against BRS nominee Godam Nagesh (3,18,814) and Congress party’s Ramesh Rathod (3,14,238). The 2019 elections had witnessed a no holds barred fight among the Adivasis and Lambadas as the former demanded removal of the latter from the ST list claiming they all migrated from neighbouring Maharashtra, where they are listed as BCs.

Earlier in the 2014 election, Godam Nagesh of the BRS defeated Congress candidate Naresh Jadhav with a margin of 1.71 lakh votes to enter the Parliament for the first time. In that election the TDP and the Bahujan Samaj Party candidates stood third and fourth and the BJP was nowhere in the picture.

But the equations have changed fast this time. Mr. Nagesh, who was with the BRS till recently, switched sides and joined the BJP to bag the ticket. While the sitting MP Soyam Bapu Rao was left sulking over denial of ticket, the party finds solace in the fact that out of the seven Assembly segments it won Mudhole, Adilabad, Nirmal and Sirpur. The BRS won Boath and Asifabad while the Congress won Khanapur. The last three segments are reserved for the STs.

Numerically speaking, the BJP is seen as sitting pretty in the constituency riding high on the Ram Mandir issue which the party claims has percolated down to the rural areas particularly the tribal hamlets called Tandas and Gudems. The saffron flags fluttering above the modest dwellings gives an indication of the systematic work the saffron brigade of the party and its frontal organisations have worked.

General perception among voters in the constituency is rather than the candidate it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP which matters. The presence of four BJP MLAs in the parliamentary constituency only boosts the chances of the party candidate in this election.

The BRS after its Assembly election loss has faced a crisis of sort in the district with several of its key leaders deserting the party. Former MLA Koneru Konappa of Sirpur joined the Congress and so is the case with others in Mudhole, Adilabad, Nirmal and Asifabad constituencies, where the BRS is bereft of leadership. Only saner face of the party is Jogu Ramanna, former Minister, who is going all out to improve the chances of the party nominee.

For the Congress, it has managed to find a new face in Atram Suguna, a firebrand Adivasi woman leader. At the height of the statehood issue and the anti-Lambadas agitation, Suguna played a key role. Her pro-people tilt is bound to stand in good stead in terms of securing votes. But a section of the Congress leaders are worried that the Lambada vote bank may not fully back the party given her strong opposition to the community during the anti-Lambadas stir.

The Congress campaign is centred round the six guarantees and how the Revanth Reddy government managed to fulfil its promise in the first three months only. Though with only one MLA, the party is not leaving any chances and it hopes to boost its chances with direct defections from the BRS into the party. The BJP is banking heavily on Modi’s popularity while the BRS claims it is the party that will protect the interests of the State.

Whether the Modi magic prevails yet again in the 2024 elections in this tribal constituency or the Rahul Gandhi charisma and promises outwits the saffron party, May 13 voting will tell.