'They control everything’: Tracing DK Aruna’s political lineage in Telangana’s Gadwal
“DK Aruna seems to have taken out
her knives. Mind your language. Brace yourself, I will expose your misdeeds and
history,” caretaker CM K Chandrasekhar Rao once said.
It’s not very often that a
sitting legislator from the Opposition takes on the state’s Chief Minister, but
for Gadwal Congress legislator and political heavyweight DK Aruna, clashing
with TRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has been a routine
affair.
“Do you have any shame to speak
utter lies like that? Everyone knows about you and how you have cheated the
people of the state. You will expose my misdeeds? You have had four years. Was
that not enough time to do so? If you have guts, go ahead, expose me. He said I
have taken out knives. Let him know, that it is true,” DK Aruna responded.
Dharmavaram and Kottam – two
small villages in Telangana along the Andhra Pradesh border near Kurnool may
seem insignificant, but they stand for the 'D K', in one of the most powerful
families in south Telangana. This is the family of DK Aruna, whose family has
held on to the Gadwal seat for generations, barring a few aberrations. The
family’s clout in the region is not only limited to politics but also extends to
every business in the constituency.
“Toddy shops, bars, gas, petrol
bunks, godowns, it’s all theirs. For every road that is laid, the gravel is
theirs and so is the sand. The DK family controls everything in the town and
take commissions on everything. Contractors are their people and so are the
engineers. If they spend Rs 100 in election campaigning, they earn Rs 99
back," alleged an aide of Gadwal’s BJP candidate, Venkatadri Reddy.
This is a sentiment that prevails
across the town of Gadwal -- that there is nothing that the DK family doesn’t
have a share in. A part of Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha constituency, the voters here
have traditionally voted for the Congress. The constituency has been a
stronghold of the Congress since Independence, but perhaps one particular
family has enjoyed the most influence.
The DK family members have been elected to the
Assembly at least nine times and it started with DK Satya Reddy's victory in
1957.
Satya Reddy didn’t come from a
political family and locals say that he began gaining popularity first when he
decided to fight the Nizam. At the time of Independence in 1947, the last
Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, did not immediately choose to accede to
the Indian union. Instead, he deliberated between choosing India, Pakistan or
the formation of a separate country. After several rounds of diplomacy failed,
India launched Operation Polo, which eventually led to the incorporation of
Hyderabad state into India.
Satya Reddy was said to be a
staunch supporter of integrating Hyderabad into India and had even campaigned
against the Razakars (an informal Muslim militia fighting on the Nizam's
behalf), which established his influence. In 1957, Satya had garnered enough
support to contest as an independent candidate and trounce Pulla Reddy, then a
two-time MLA from the Congress.
The local sentiment is that Pulla
Reddy is the reason Gadwal has water and a market yard, which also ensures that
voters continue to be loyal to Congress.
Satya tried his luck again in
1967 as a Congress candidate but did not succeed. In 1978, he won as a Janata
Party candidate.
While this was just the
beginning, the family’s influence truly began to show when Satya’s eldest son,
DK Samarasimha Reddy, decided to enter active politics and continue his legacy.
Samarasimha won on a Congress ticket in 1983,
but in 1985, Samarasimha Reddy lost by a margin of fewer than 100 votes to N
Gopala Reddy from the Telugu Desam Party, at a time the TDP was riding on the
NTR wave and sweeping polls.
After the results, Samarasimha
filed an election petition in the High Court, following which the votes were
recounted and scrutinised. As per this, Samarasimha Reddy polled 56 votes more
than N Gopala Reddy and was declared elected. Gopala went to the Supreme Court,
which referred it to a larger bench. However, in the end, it was Samarasimha’s
tenure.
Samarasimha held the seat from
1985-89, but then, cracks began to show as Samarasimha’s younger brother,
Bharath Simha Reddy, also wanted a piece of the family’s influence.
In 1994, Samarasimha went up
against his brother Bharath Simha Reddy, who contested as an independent.
Bharath Simha won with a sweeping majority.
The entry
of DK Aruna
Following Bharath Simha’s tenure,
Ghattu Bheemudu of the TDP in 2000 won one term against debutant DK Aruna,
before the seat returned to the family’s fold in 2004 with her victory. But the
victory was not that of the Congress, as she contested on a Samajwadi Party
ticket. The 1999 Assembly polls defeat is Aruna’s only loss in her entire
political career which spans two decades.
Aruna, who got married to Bharath
Simha when she was 16, is the daughter of former Congress MLA Chittem Narsi
Reddy and came from a family of party loyalists herself. Chittem Narsi Reddy’s
family held the Makthal seat.
Narsi Reddy was gunned down
allegedly by Maoists in 2005. The same attack also saw the death of Narsi's
youngest son and Aruna's brother, Venkateshwar Reddy. Following this, Chittem
Ram Mohan Reddy, Narsi Reddy's eldest son, filed his nomination and won the
bye-polls that same year.
Chittem Ram Mohan, who later won
on a Congress ticket, in 2014 defected to the TRS.
In 2004, Aruna, who contested on
a Samajwadi Party ticket, managed to defeat Ghattu with a huge margin and
reclaim the seat that her husband once held. Since then, Aruna has been the
sitting MLA from Gadwal.
"It’s a story that is more
than five decades old and since then, members of the same family have been
winning elections. Bheemudu was an aberration, Naidu was riding high on the
BJP-Kargil wave," a senior journalist told TNM.
Aruna is now up for her fourth
term and for her third clash with Krishna Mohan.
"They have been united, but
in the last two elections, they split because of a power struggle. Each
politician wants their own children to progress and can't digest if even their
brother or sister's children began gaining prominence," a classmate of
Bharatha Simha Reddy, who did not wish to be identified, told TNM.
The 2018
elections
Gadwal, historically called
‘Vidvadgadwala’, was ruled by strongman Peda Soma Bhupaludu (Somanadri), who
constructed the Gadwal Fort during the 17th century. Three centuries later, the
fort still remains intact close to the heart of the town. Close to the fort
lies a massive bungalow, built more than half a century ago. This is where many
members of the DK family grew up, including Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, and it
continues to be the power centre of the town.
In 2014, Samarasimha Reddy was
all set to be the TDP nominee but his seat went to the BJP as part of the
alliance, thereby making it a fight between Bandla Mohan Reddy (who had
defected to the TRS by then) and Aruna.
While Samarasimha Reddy and his
brother are not on good terms, Samarasimha rejoined the Congress in September
this year, a day after the Assembly was dissolved in Telangana.
Speaking about the internal
conflict, Aruna had earlier said, "Maybe he didn't like that I entered
politics since he was a senior politician, but we don't have any personal
disputes."
In fact, Aruna herself had
lobbied hard within the party for a ticket from Mahabubnagar constituency for
her daughter, Snigdha Reddy, but to no avail.
"Members of the family
continue to enjoy power because there is a lack of alternative candidates. Most
of them continue to enjoy goodwill that Satya Reddy had garnered during his
time. They may help people on an individual level, which ensures that they get
votes, but they don't really care about social progress," Bharath Simha’s
classmate added.
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