Many believe KCR has done a lot for Gajwel over the last four years.
Telangana's caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today filed his nomination from the Gajwel assembly constituency after offering prayers at the Sri Venkateswamy temple, a tradition he has observed for years. He placed the nomination papers at the deity's feet before filing them at the auspicious time of 2:34 pm.
Going by the significance attached to Gajwel in the upcoming Telangana elections, NDTV visited the assembly constituency to draw out a report card for the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) strongman -- or KCR, as he is popularly known -- in the four-and-a-half years spent as its elected MLA. And it seems like he has done a lot.
Enter Gajwel, and you will find yourself thinking that you are in a film city. There are central medians on its roads; fancy LED lighting; several freshly painted buildings; an air-conditioned market yard; a 100-bed hospital with state-of-the-art facilities; a modern education hub with a school and a college; and an integrated government complex that looks better than the secretariat at Hyderabad.
"Gajwel has transformed so dramatically over the last four years that parts of the town seem like something out of a movie. Gajwel has raced 20 years ahead in time during this period," says Anwar, who runs a welding shop on Toopran road.
Another resident, Srinivas, points out how the road facing his shop has transformed from a dilapidated road to a wide and well-tarred one. "We have KCR to thank for everything, from water flowing from our taps to being able to work without a power cut and the comfort of sleeping peacefully under a fan at night. So we will vote for him," he says.
Lakshman Rao, a local businessman, agrees. "We never had it so good, so there's every reason to continue the arrangement," he says. "KCR himself says that only 25 per cent work has been done so far, and 75 per cent is still pending. So we have to vote for him.''
But even if Mr Rao were to receive an A-plus on his Gajwel report card, there are many who believe that Grand Alliance candidate Vanteru Pratap Reddy will give him a tough fight. The reason for this is pure arithmetic. The TRS polled 86,000 votes in 2014, as opposed to the Congress' 67,000 and Telugu Desam Party's 34,000. And now that the two opposition parties have joined hands, the TRS may have cause for worry.
Mr Reddy, who belongs to the Congress, is confident that his "people-to-people" contact will help him win the election. "I will get the Telugu Desam Party and Congress votes... no problem," he says.
Adding to the Grand Alliance's advantage, Mr Reddy is always accessible to the people while Mr Rao -- who spends most of his time here in a farmhouse -- has been inaccessible to voters, party workers and even legislators. "When we have a grouse, complaint or problem, who should we go to? No MLA or leader is available here. KCR is in the farmhouse and we cannot reach him,'' says Sattanna, another voter.
However, Mr Rao has promised to address the accessibility problem in his next term. "As the chief minister of the state, I had to look after 31 districts. That is why I couldn't give Gajwel enough time," he said at a meeting on Saturday. "I will make sure this doesn't happen next time.''
Among other grouses that a section of the society reserves for Mr Rao are irrigation projects like Mallanasagar and Konda Pochamma, which ended up displacing a few thousand villages. But the residents of Venkatapuram, Erravelli and other villages around his farmhouse are more than happy to have the caretaker chief minister as their local MLA. Harish Rao, state irrigation minister and Mr Rao's nephew, is certain that the TRS will win by 50,000 votes. "I am spending more time here because I am the district in-charge," he says.
While two-bedroom houses for everybody below poverty line was one of the big promises made by the TRS chief in 2014, only a few thousand got constructed across the state during his tenure. However, many believe that not voting the party to power in the upcoming elections will result in the alternative government shelving the scheme. And that's a chance they do not want to take.