AP Velamas bat for KCR

NAVEENA GHANATE
Hyderabad

The Velama community of Andhra Pradesh seems to have accepted Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao as the Bahubali of their community.

In a bid to ensure the BRS gets the national party tag, they are getting ready to influence people in their areas to bag the required vote share for the BRS. Political observers say that both the Velamas and the Koppula Velamas have accepted KCR as their own man.

Even before the BRS forayed into AP, KCR was celebrated in certain constituencies where they had influence. The community is small in Andhra Pradesh as in Telangana, but leaders of the community who won elections in YSRCP Jagan’s wave speak about their hold on voters.

In 2022 itself, KCR had reportedly reached out to a section of Velamas in Andhra Pradesh. While Koppula Velama leaders are dominant in Uttarandhra, Velamas are dominant in Godavari districts. Constituencies in Srikakulam, Chitalpudi, Vizianagarm, Samalkota, Peddapuram, Narsapuram, Jangareddygudem, U-Kothapalli, Nuzvid and Mylavaram are areas where the Velamas can influence people to vote for the BRS.

“After KVP Ramachandra Rao, the big guy from our community is KCR who is also the CM of TS. He is now in a commanding position and the community encourages anyone who wants to grow. A large number of them are financially stable. So we tend to encourage others to vote and can mobilise votes for the BRS.

Koppula Velamas will certainly back him even though KCR is a Velama Dora which translates as Padmyanayak in Telangana,” said a prominent Velama leader.

However, not everyone in Velamas is convinced. M. Murali, a prominent Velama leader and a former government official said, “Velama families are very less.

So their capability to help the BRS is also less. Second-line leaders who are interested in contesting may join the BRS. We see that voters in border areas may back the BRS as there are already three parties here and many Velama leaders are already aligned with them.”

Political observers point out that Velama leaders never went tough on KCR. For instance, M. Satyanarayana, a Congress leader never went harsh on KCR. Political analysts say that one thing is clear. People know that BRS is not here to win but only to give competition. Moreover, with Thota Chandrashekar joining the BRS bagging the number of votes needed to become a national party will be a cakewalk for the BRS.

According to the Election Symbols Order, a political party can be recognised as a national party if it fulfils any of the following three conditions.

The party should be recognised as a “state party” in at least four states. The party’s candidates contesting in any four or more states have secured at least six per cent of the total valid votes polled in each of those States in the last Assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections.

In addition to this, at least four of these candidates should be elected to the Lok Sabha from any of these states. Thirdly, the party must win at least two per cent of the total Lok Sabha seats in the last election and the party’s candidates should have been elected to the House from not less than three States.