Khammam district is now the focus of all Telugu parties. At least for 200 years , Khammam was a part of Hyderabad Nizam state and was then called Khammamett. After the Chandra Babu meeting in Khammam ,the BRS-KCR announced a massive meeting. No doubt, BJP, Congress and Left parties will now follow suit and hold meetings in Khammam.
Khammam is a district where all political parties are present Though Khammam was part of Nizam-Hyderabad for nearly 200 years, its language, people, social groups and culture touched large border areas with Andhra .The proximity of Khammam to major Coastal Andhra cities like Rajahmundry, Eluru , Vijayawada and Guntur meant there was lot of business and trade and a massive movement of population.
In fact, the nearest port, which served Khammam was Madras and many areas of Khammam are closer to Andhra cities than they were to Hyderabad. Even today, Vijayawada airport is commonly used by Khammam residents.
The other interesting point is that due to its location, Khammam touches or very close to the tribal areas of Andhra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and part of the forests and tribal belt of Andhra ,Odisha,Chattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand. Tribals largely speak the same dialect between Khammam, Andhra, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
In effect, Khammam is impacted by its geography and therefore, its politics is more open than in other parts of Telengana. There is less Urdu here, even during Nizam rule, due to its distance from Hyderabad.
In international politics, there is a very big theory of “geopolitic” ,which means the impact of geography on politics . Khammam is impacted by “geopolitics , as it is close to many states and other languages and cultures. All castes and social groups are present in Khammam equally. No one group dominates Khammam.
Ever since the formation of Telengana, KCR won only 1 MLA out of 10 MLAs, in both 2014 and 2019. This is a weak spot of KCR, since geography and social groups impact Khammam and difficult to dominate Khammam.
Why focus on Khammam?
1. TDP of Chandra Babu Naidu was always strong in Khammam . After the 2018 assembly election, when the TDP lost badly in Telengana, it became dormant. But the recent Khammam public meeting ignited interest in Khammam and started the idea that Telugu Desam could make its presence felt in entire Telengana. In 2018, TDP won 2 MLAs out of 10 in Khammam.
2. Congress party had a spectacular success in 2018 ,due to Kutami with TDP. The Congress won 7 MLAs out of 10 in Khammam. But nearly all the MLAs defected to TRS.
3. The TRS won only 1 MLA in Khammam . This showed that there was political space in Khammam and no one dominates Khammam.
Unique features of Old Khammam district :
a. Election results of 2014 and 2018 show that Khammam district still has a lot of political space. No one party or caste dominates Khammam. Due to its history and culture, Khamam is impacted by other states, castes and groups like the tribals.
b. Part of Khammam district, notably Bhadrachalam was always part of East Godaveri district and only after formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1954, it became part of Khammam for administrative convenience.
c. Al powerful social groups like the Reddys, Khammas , Kapus and Velamas are present with their own political loyalties.
d. No big leader has emerged after former Chief Minister Jalagam Vengal Rao in Khammam. Many small leaders, no big leader.
Success in Khammam will impact neighboring Andhra Pradesh:
Chandra Babu Naidu put up a big show in Khammam to impress the BJP that without him the BJP cannot win Telengana. The Congress is now dependent only on its popular leader Bhatti Vikram MLA.The party is weak there. The BJP will have to win some seats in Khammam if it wants to win Telengana.
BRS-KCR and Khammam: For KCR, Khammam is a big challenge and also a great opportunity. If KCR does well in Khammam and organizes big meetings, then it will impact neighboring Andhra Pradesh, where it wants to contest elections. A good show in Khammam will create sympathetic emotions in neighboring Andhra.
Political noise in Khammam will be heard in neighboring Andhra Pradesh. In war, it is called “collateral effect“ or ‘ “collateral damage”. It means action in one place will have an impact elsewhere. A good presence in Khammam will have an impact not only in Telengana, but in Andhra Pradesh. The Chhattisgarh and Odisha border areas will be impacted .
There is factionalism in BRS-KCR party in Khammam. This is a big opportunity for the BJP. There will be many big public meetings in Khammam in future. This will definitely benefit the displaced lakhs in Godaveri valley by Polavaram dam. Maybe both BJP and BRS-KCR will now attend to economic damage done to the 4 lakh Displaced people of Polavaram dam, both in Andhra and Telengana.
Khammam is the Gateway to Andhra and other states from Telengana and from Andhra to Telengana.