Ex-Maoist Venkatayya elected Kondareddipalli sarpanch unopposed
KONDAREDDIPALLI: A former Maoist, Mallepakula Venkatayya, was on Saturday elected sarpanch of Kondareddipalli, the native village of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy in Nagarkurnool district.
Ex-Maoist worked in Kalwakurthy area till 2000
Born in 1972, Venkatayya (alias Mohan) joined the Maoist movement in 1994 after attending a cultural meeting of the group in Kondareddipalli. He later worked in parts of the then Mahbubnagar district, including Kalwakurthy and surrounding areas, until 2000.
He married Aruna of Dindi mandal in Nalgonda district in 1999. The couple have two sons.
Surrendered in 2001; joined police as home guard in 2003
Venkatayya surrendered before Kalwakurthy police in 2001 and returned to civilian life. He was appointed as a home guard at the Kalwakurthy police station in 2003 and has been serving there since.
He shares close family ties with the chief minister’s family.
Resigned job to contest reserved sarpanch seat
With the Kondareddipalli sarpanch post reserved for Scheduled Castes, Venkatayya resigned from his home guard position to file his nomination. He went to the mandal office in a rally with villagers and submitted his papers on Saturday.
Following the chief minister’s intervention, villagers unanimously supported Venkatayya, leading to his unopposed election as sarpanch. All 10 ward member positions in the village also received single nominations.
Speaking after his election, Venkatayya said he would work for the development of Kondareddipalli and aimed to make it “a model village in the state”. He expressed gratitude to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Agriculture Commission member KVN Reddy and villagers for their support.
