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Going gets tough for women in Andhra Pradesh
Women have been waging a battle of varied dimensions in Andhra Pradesh going to polls on April 20 and 26 for LS and assembly.
Irrespective of the political nod for reservations in legislature, women have been waging a battle of varied dimensions in Andhra Pradesh going to polls on April 20 and 26 for Lok Sabha and assembly.
A surrendered Naxalite is testing her electoral fortunes along with the widow of victim of extremist violence in the Naxal infested Telengana region going to polls on April 20.
In the faction ridden region of Rayalaseema, wives have taken the baton from their men who are cooling their heels in jail on various charges, and are in the fray in the highly volatile district of Ananthapur.
Throwing a strong challenge to the Majlis in their stronghold of old city is another women from the minority community wearing saffron robes.
Amidst growing apprehensions of violence by Naxals in the Telengana region, going to polls in first phase, Telugu pulled a major surprise by fielding Seetakka, a surrendered Naxal from Mulug in Warangal district.
The dense forest cover of Mulug has been the nerve centre of Naxal activity for the three decades and it remains to be seen how Seetakka defies her former colleagues and their ban on elections.
The script takes a curious turn in Wanaparthy where TDP fielded Lavanya, widow of the slain TDP mandal chief Kandula Narayana just two months back.
When TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu attended the funeral of Narayana there were some slogans demanding assembly seat to Lavanya and it has come true. In both the cases there was little or no lobbying.
Infusing confidence in Congress camp, Bhanumathi has kept the party afloat against TDP strongman Paritala Ravi in Penukonda assembly constituency of Ananthapur district.
Bhanumathi turned to active politics after her husband Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy was arrested in the sensational Jubilee Hills bomb blast case.
Many heads have rolled in the feud between families in this hyper sensitive district and Bhanumathi's challenge comes as a whiff of fresh air for Congress activists, who were subdued by their opponents after Gangula's arrest.
In the neighbouring Kurnool district, the storyline is same with the difference that Gouru Charita was a simple housewife and was away from the intrigue of politicking.
She had to take up the challenge after her husband Gouru Venkat Reddy, arch rival of Nandikotkur legislator Byreddy Rajsekhar Reddy of TDP, jailed in connection with a double murder case.
Both Bhanumathi and Charita have taken up their new careers seriously and started campaigning for the elections in a hectic pace though the region goes to polls in the second phase on April 26.
Communally sensitive old city will be seeing a contest with a difference at Yakatpura where BJP has fielded Siraj Unnisa to take on sitting Majlis legislator Mumtaz Ahmed Khan.
MBT, a splinter group of Majlis, will also be in the fray to give a three dimensional stature to the contest but it's BJP's Siraj Unnisa who has hogged the limelight in the predominantly minority constituency.
