Hyderabad: Will women candidates from major political parties make it to the Lok Sabha from Telangana State?
Going by the rivals, they face an uphill task in the male bastion but they are giving a tough fight in all the six constituencies where they are contesting.
Three major political parties- Congress, BRS and BJP gave tickets to only six women out of a total 17 Lok Sabha seats in the State.
It’s a mere 12 percent of the overall 49 candidates including independents in the current Lok Sabha polls out of the total 525 candidates in the fray. However, it’s more than the previous polls when only 25 contested in the last polls.
Among the women candidates, the one who is stealing the thunder is BJP Hyderabad LS nominee K Madhavi Latha, who is taking on AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi.
Kavitha Maloth
Kavitha Maloth is the only woman sitting member from Mahabubabad Lok Sabha Constituency (ST) and BRS State Secretary who is contesting again.
Daughter of former Minister Redya Nayak, she began her political career in 2019 with Congress and got elected as a MLA from Mahabubabad. She later shifted to BRS.
She was in the news following her conviction in a voter bribery case in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by a local court, which sentenced her to six months imprisonment.
The court for trial of cases related to MPs/MLAs also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000. The second accused in the case, she has gone in for appeal in a higher court.
D K Aruna
D K Aruna, National Vice President of BJP, Gadwal MLA, and former Minister in undivided Andhra Pradesh is a senior politician coming from a political family and contesting from the Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha constituency.
Aruna’s slogan, “Mahabubnagar development is my guarantee, India’s development is Modi’s guarantee.”
“I am quite confident of a big win. I don’t see any match to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP in the State and country,” she asserts.
Though some senior party leaders from the district like A P Jitender Reddy, who were denied ticket, quit the party and joined Congress, she says it doesn’t make any difference since he was a lightweight.
D K Aruna is taking on Congress Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy and BRS Manne Srinivas Reddy.
Mahabubnagar and Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituencies are the key segments in the State and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is keen to win. Infact, CM made several visits to Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha constituency.
Mahabubnagar happens to be CM’s native district and he was elected from Kodangal Assembly constituency while he won the Lok Sabha from Malkajgiri LS constituency.
All eyes on Madhavi Latha
BJP Hyderabad Lok Sabha nominee K Madhavi Latha who is taking on AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi in the tough Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency is hogging national headlines for her daredevil campaign style in the Owaisi fort.
Patnam Suneetha
Coming from a political family, Patnam Suneetha or Suneetha Mahender Reddy, presently Vikarabad Zilla Parishad Chairperson, is fighting the electoral battle in the largest Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency on Congress ticket, once represented by CM. The family migrated from BRS to Congress.
“Congress will win hands down,” she asserts though her rivals say she is a non-local and has no chance.
She is taking on bigwigs in former Minister and Telangana movement leader Etala Rajender of BJP and R Laxma Reddy of BRS.
Adivasi power Atram Suguna
“I will be the first Adivasi woman MP from Telangana,” asserts Atram Suguna, the Congress candidate from Adilabad confidently. Teacher turned politician, she began her political career as MPTC and worked for the welfare of women.
She takes on Atram Sakku of BRS and BJP’s Godam Nagesh, a former MLA, MP and Minister.
Kavya’s maiden battle
Dr Kadiam Kavya, daughter of former Minister Kadiam Srihari, who quit BRS and joined Congress after the allocation of a ticket by KCR, is fighting in the Warangal Lok Sabha (SC) constituency. She takes on Aroori Ramesh (BJP) and Dr M Sudheer Kumar of BRS.
Banking on her father’s support, Kavya ran into a controversy over her caste status and conversion to another religion. But her father asserts there is no issue.
The BJP has fielded two — D.K. Aruna (Mahabubnagar), and K Madhavi Latha (Hyderabad).
Incidentally, women voters outnumber their male counterparts in Telangana by a margin of 1,76,368, as per the official figures. The state has 1,64,08,319 male and 1,65,84,687 female voters yet tickets to them are far fewer.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy admits that tickets to more women could not be given due to various factors, but would certainly do it in the days to come.
