Andhra: Will Rajampet Muslims vote for Kiran Reddy, help BJP make inroads into state?

The supporters of former Congress veteran Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, the last chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh, are hoping that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming public meeting will work in their favour.

They are hoping that PM Modi's election campaign speech will help to polarizes voters on communal lines in the Rajampet Lok Sabha constituency, which will then help Kiran Reddy to win the election.

Reason: The constituency’s 2-2.5 lakh Muslim voters out of the total 12.50 lakh electorate are seen as supporters of chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress, which has unleashed an anti-Modi campaign among the Muslims.

Congress to BJP

PM Modi is all set to address a public meeting at Kalikiri, a town 80 km from Tirupati, on May 8. More than one lakh people are being mobilised for the event.

A long-time Congress leader, the 64-year-old Kiran Reddy joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2023 and is currently pitted against Peddireddy Mithun Reddy, the outgoing MP and son of Ramachandra Reddy, a minister in chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s cabinet.

Muslim voters hold the key

With about more than two lakh voters, Muslims, hold the key for a success in Rajampet.

Flaunting a pamphlet which the YSR Congress had reportedly circulated in mosques, Kiran Reddy’s supporters want a polarizing speech from the PM, like the one he had made in Telangana, as an antidote for Muslim politics.

YSR Congress campaign

The pamphlet depicts the BJP and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) as villains and lists out 13 possible disasters for Muslims if the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) comes to power at the Centre and in the state.

Will Modi give a virulent anti-Muslim speech like he had done in Zaheerabad (Telangana) a week ago, where he had said he won’t allow religious reservations for Muslims as long as he is alive.

Modi and TDP

Given the prime minister’s non-political speech at Anakapalli in Andhra Pradesh on Monday, an anti-Muslim reservation rhetoric looks unlikely in the state where the TDP, an ally of the BJP, has promised to protect the 4 per cent reservations for Muslims.

This has made life tougher for Kiran Reddy, forcing him to depend on vote-transfer from the TDP, which has formed a regional NDA with the Jana Sena Party of Pawan Kalyan and the BJP. The BJP is contesting a total of six Lok Sabha seats out of the state’s 25.

Political survival

Winning the election is important for Kiran Reddy for his political survival. Though a former chief minister, he lost relevance in the post-bifurcation politics in the Telugu-speaking land.

Upset over the division of the state in 2014, he quit the Congress that made him the chief minister. He floated a Jai Samaikhyandhra Party that suffered a humiliating defeat after which, he went into hibernation for a decade only to surface on the day he joined the BJP in April 2023.

Muslim support

A former TDP minister who did not want to be quoted told The Federal unequivocally that Muslims were with the YSR Congress. “It is a legacy of YS Rajasekhar Reddy, the father of chief minister Jagamohan Reddy, which we have not been able to stop,“ he admitted.

“Unless you consolidate the other castes like Balijas and OBCs, you cannot compensate for the loss of Muslim votes,” he said, and conceded that it’s a very difficult task.

Counter-offensive

But Narendra Kumar Reddy Puli, an ardent supporter of Kiran Reddy, insisted it is possible. He is convinced that Modi’s visit to Kalikiri on Wednesday will turn the tide in favour of the BJP.

“The YSR Congress has circulated a pamphlet in every mosque which states that the NDA will scrap the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims and grab Waqf properties. They are stirring a fear that the TDP with the support of Modi’s government would implement CAA, NPR and UCC converting the Muslims into refugees in their own villages. If you extract Muslim support by false propaganda, it would get an equal reaction. This will help others unite to defeat the YSRC,” he said.

One can discern the lurking fear in the NDA that Muslims would upset Kiran Reddy’s expectations.

Had it not been for the Kiran Reddy’s BJP membership, the fight would have been between the two families, Nallari and Peddireddy, said a retired school teacher in Rajampet. “Kirankumar Reddy is not that fearsome. He is approachable,” he added.

But Kiran Reddy seems to see silent signs of people’s craving for a change amid what he terms the tyranny of the Peddireddy family.

Kiran Reddy

“They (Peddireddy family) are notorious as red sander smugglers. They control land, sand and mines. They don’t allow farmers to sell their milk to other than their own dairy at a lower price,” Kiran Reddy told The Federal.

The BJP leader is banking on the development he had initiated when he was the CM of united Andhra Pradesh between 2010-14. “I was responsible for Sainik School, JNTU college of Engineering, ITBP and CRPF battalions and an ITI. Have they added anything new to the list?” asked Kiran Reddy caustically.

Many agree that during Kiran Reddy’s time, his hometown Piler emerged as a VIP Assembly constituency on a par with Pulivendula (YS Rajsekhar Reddy) and Kuppam (Chandrababu Naidu). But Kiran Reddy’s disappearance for a decade left the field wide open for the Peddireddy family to capture it.

Movie actor Saikumar, who is campaigning for Kiran Reddy in Madanapalli and Tamballapalli areas, said Modi’s development pledge and “Sri Ram” were enough for the former chief minister to win the election.

TDP crutch

Challapalli Narasimha Reddy, a BJP veteran from Madanapalli, said many backward Muslims had distanced themselves from the YSR Congress.

“At a recent meeting, they even raised slogans like Bhart Mata Ki Jai and Jai BJP,” he said, indicating a split in the Muslim community.

How difficult it is for the BJP to win the Rajampet seat without TDP’s support was amply proven in 2019 when BJP’s Daggubati Purandeswary lost to the YSR Congress as the saffron party and the TDP parted ways before the elections.

Chandrababu’s promises

This time, TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu is struggling hard to address the concerns of Muslims by promising 4 per cent reservation for the community. He has promised ₹1 lakh to the Muslim brides if his party comes to power in Andhra under Dulhan scheme. He is also promising to set up an Urdu University, a Muslim Welfare Corporation and construction of Haj Houses. He is interested in reaching out to the Muslims in an amicable manner.

Will these assurances convince Muslims to elect Kiran Reddy as a Lok Sabha member and help the BJP gain a toehold in Andhra Pradesh?