Drought vs development conundrum for voters in Zaheerabad constituency

In the recent Assembly elections, the Congress has won four seats, BRS two and BJP one with Congress polling nearly 19,000 more votes than BRS in the seven segments.

Despite being located in the Manjeera sub-basin of Godavari Basin, Zaheerabad Parliamentary constituency, which came into being in 2009 as part of the reorganisation of Lok Sabha constituencies, is haunted by drought conditions regularly with no assured irrigation facilities in a majority of the areas.

There is a lack of major industries except for an automotive unit of Mahindra in Zaheerabad, and the constituency largely depends on agriculture as the main economic activity. It is a risky occupation due to the lack of proper irrigation facilities and strained groundwater resources in all seven Assembly segments, though some pockets of Banswada and Yellareddy are irrigated under Nizamsagar and Kamareddy under Sriramsagar project.

Notwithstanding tall claims made by those who represented the area either in the State Legislature or in Parliament till the last decade, a majority of the villages were denied even assured/ dependable drinking water supply. For more than a decade, some progressive farmers including those from other regions who purchased lands at throwaway prices have been trying to change the landscape with orchards, horticultural and commercial crops in some pockets.

Of the three elections held so far, the seat was won by Congress in 2009 and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in 2014 and 2019. The fact that they belong to one of the majority social groups in the area indicates that they play a key role in deciding the winner.

Suresh Kumar Shetkar, who won in 2009, and B.B. Patil, who emerged victorious in the next two elections, are once again in the fray this time with Mr. Shetkar as Congress candidate and Mr. Patil as BJP nominee, as he switched over from BRS to BJP only in March. Gali Anil Kumar, who is contesting as BRS candidate this time, is a newcomer with his experience in electoral battles limited to contesting for the Medak Lok Sabha seat in 2019 on a Congress ticket. A total of 19 candidates are in the fray this time.

In the recent Assembly elections, the Congress has won four seats, BRS two and BJP one with Congress polling nearly 19,000 more votes than BRS in the seven segments. As the Congress and BJP candidates come from the same social group, the support they get from it will hold the key this time too. When they too were in the fray in 2014, Mr. Patil found more favour with voters.

The Congress is banking on its six guarantees while the BRS is pinning hopes on the “development” it claims to have done since 2014 and the ‘broken promises’ of the ruling party. The BJP, on the other hand, is solely depending on national issues and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity. The contest is expected to be a close one this time with BJP getting bolstered compared to the previous elections with its candidate picked up from a majority social group of the area.