TRS candidate confident of defeating Jaipal Reddy

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) candidate from Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha constituency A P Jitender Reddy, who has major business interests in Oman, is a firm believer in the political philosophy that connecting with people, particularly the common man, pays off rich dividends.

This, he claims, is the main reason for his remaining unfazed by the presence of Union Minister for Science and Technology Jaipal Reddy who is the Congress candidate in a three-cornered contest in this backward but politically-sensitive district.

In an exclusive chat with Khaleej Times in the course of his road show in the constituency, Jitender, who also had business interests in Dubai till recently, exuded confidence that he would give the veteran Congress leader a run for his money. “Seldom has one heard Jaipal Reddy raise the Telangana issue or speak for its development either in Parliament or outside,” he points out.

“I was in Oman from 1976 to 1996, and built up my business. But once I decided to enter politics in 1998, I have been with the people of Mahabubnagar district throughout, and have fought for its development. I know most of the people as they know me, right from businessmen to the chai walas (tea shops) to grass-root level party workers,” says the 60-year-old TRS candidates, who represented the constituency as a BJP MP for one term from 1999-2004.

Jitender brushed aside a querry on the general perception that Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s visit to Karimnagar on Wednesday would be a game-changer in Telangana, stating that going by the same logic, it should hold good for BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi when he visits the region after Sonia’s visit.

“People will pitch for TRS mainly because of two reasons - party president K Chandrasekhar Rao’s unrelenting struggle for separate statehood for 14 longs years and achieving it, and the fact that only TRS can restore the 60 years of looting in Telangana by the Congress and the TDP,” the NRI-turned-politician claimed.

Jitender argues that the movement itself would not have been launched but for the misrule by the Congress for 40 years and the Telugu Desam Party for 20 years. “If these parties had done justice to the region in the form of development, why would there be a demand for separate statehood?” he asks.

His rivals, Jaipal Reddy and Nagam Janardhan Reddy from the BJP, however, ridiculed his arguments.

“People all over the region have realized that it was Sonia Gandhi who fulfilled their long-cherished dream of a separate Telangana state. People also acknowledge the fact that Sonia Gandhi did it fully knowing that she would have to sacrifice the party’s interest in Seemandhra. And what does KCR have to show that he played a role in the creation of a separate state?” asks Jaipal Reddy, a five-time MP, in an interview to Khaleej Times in Mahabubnagar.

Claiming that the TRS would move towards the NDA post-polls, the union minister said: “KCR loves anarchy and hates discipline. That is why he and his family members decided not to have any truck with the Congress, which is akin to Tihar jail when it comes to discipline.”

Janardhan Reddy, the BJP candidate, went a step further in stating that KCR was a mere spectator all through the process of bifurcation of the state. “He was not involved in any of the exercises that were gone through in the run up to the division of the state. The TRS president should explain and justify to the people of Telangana on his role in achieving Telangana. The moment the bifurcation bill was passed in Telangana, people realized that it was only because of the BJP support that it went through,” he said.

• India