Rookie politician humbles seasoned teacher-turned-politicians in MLC polls

Malka Komaraiah, a giant killer in Telangana MLC elections, humbled seasoned politicians with BJP's support, causing a stir.

Malka Komaraiah, a leading promoter of a chain of educational institutions in Telangana’s capital [Hyderabad] has turned out to be a giant killer in the MLC elections in Telangana, when he humbled seasoned teacher-turned-politicians and exposed the chinks in the armour of the teachers unions backed by the Congress as well as the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS). He won from Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar Teachers’ constituency.

Elections to the two vacant MLC vacancies from the Teachers constituency and one from the Graduates constituency was notified by the Election Commission on January 29, 2025.

Reputed Progressive Recognised Teachers Union (PRTU), United Teachers Front (UTF) and State Teachers Union (STU), a few of them backed by the Left parties, held a sway over the teachers community in the Legislative Council elections. Though the BJP has an affiliated union going by the name of Telangana Teacher’s Association, its influence has been limited.

Mr. Komaraiah won the seat with a margin of more than 5,700 first preference votes against his nearest rival Vanga Mahender Reddy of the PRTU (TS). Mr. Komaraiah secured 12,959 votes while Mr. Mahender Reddy got 7,182 votes at the end of the first preference vote count in Karimnagar on Monday (March 3, 2025) night. Of the total 25,041 polled votes, around 897 votes were declared invalid.

But, the surprise victory of Mr. Komaraiah, who entered the Karimnagar-Adilabad-Nizamabad-Medak Teachers constituency fray as BJP backed nominee, has ruffled the feathers of the established unions making them sit back and analyse the loss. Although, the teachers constituency elections are held on non-party basis, the mainstream political parties tend to back the strong candidate and this case too, the Congress and the BRS too chose to support one candidate unofficially.

The PRTU had fielded Vanga Mahender Reddy as its candidate and is younger brother of a powerful teachers’ union leader, which is aligned with the BRS. Congress, however, refrained from backing any candidate. However, the teachers sympathetic towards the ruling party indicated that they had been asked to back Mahender Reddy.

Mr. Komaraiah had dreamt of entering politics and aspired for a ticket in the previous Assembly and Parliamentary elections. He joined the BJP and tried to convince the leadership to give him a chance. But, his surprise nomination as the Teacher’s constituency candidate caught the attention of the other parties. Though he is not a teacher by profession but only runs a chain of educational institutions, his victory has left the rivals to do a thorough introspection on what went wrong in their campagning.