Having Elected CM Candidate 12 times, This One Seat Holds the Key to Power in Telangana

Andole: Exclusively reserved for the scheduled castes, Andole is that one seat which the contenders for the top position in Telangana have always vied for.

The state’s bellwether state was part of Andhra Pradesh long before the agitation for a separate state picked up. In its decades-long history, Andole has given candidates whose party went on to form the government 12 out of 14 times. Part of the Zahirabad Lok Sabha constituency it is one of the 10 constituencies in the Medak district.

The two times that Andole did not deliver as expected was once in 1957 and then years later in 1983. In 1957, independent candidate Baswa Maniah won but the Congress went on to form the government. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was made the chief minister.

In 1962, SL Devi from the Congress won, and the party again went on to form the government. Devi did not become the CM as Reddy was given the top post. He also went on to become the President of India in 1977.

During the 1967 elections, CR Narsimha from the Congress won and the party went on to form government. K Brahmananda Reddy was made the CM. The fourth assembly polls in 1972 bought the Congress to power and C Rajanarsimha won from Andole. This time PN Narasimha Rao was made the chief minister, who later also became the Prime Minister. In 1978, Congress’ Rajanarsimha won the election and the party made government.

The Congress ambit finally came to a halt in 1983 when Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP came to power. In 1985, Malyala Rajaiah won from Andole, but even though TDP came to power, it was NT Rama Rao who became CM.

Congress came back to power in 1989 and CR Damodar won from Andole. Marri Chenna Reddy became the CM but Congress formed the government. In the 10th election held in 1999, the TDP came back to power with Naidu as Chief Minister and his fellow party member P Bbabu Mohan won from Andole. In 2004 and 2009, a Congress candidate from Andole won and it formed the government.

A decade later in 2014, Andole was made part of Telangana. When the state went to polls that year, Babumohanpally from TRS won from Andole and KCR went on to become CM.

With its successful track record, all eyes are on Andole this year too.