With the upcoming panchayat elections in Telangana villages, voters are shifting their focus from traditional promises like roads, drainage, and drinking water to the pressing issue of monkeys and dogs creating disturbances. Campaigns across various villages are now centered on controlling these animals, with candidates pledging to capture and relocate monkeys to ensure villagers’ safety and peace. This marks a significant change in the rural electoral landscape, where local wildlife management has become a deciding factor for votes.
In Mahbubabad’s Datla village, Congress candidate Kommineni Ramulamma is campaigning on the promise of removing monkeys every year, assuring residents that her election would bring an end to long-standing harassment. Similarly, in Neredell panchayat of Hanumakonda district, candidates Jetty Nagalakshmi and Golkonda Sriram are creatively drawing attention by wearing chimpanzee and bear costumes while campaigning, while also actively capturing and relocating the animals to nearby forests to win voter trust.
Other villages are witnessing similar strategies. In Dandepalli, Mancherial, candidate Rajeshwar used a mound in his campaign to illustrate his plan for clearing monkeys, promising to expand such efforts if elected. In Illand village of Warangal district, the village’s primary concern remains the monkey nuisance, with 5,400 voters emphasizing that whoever resolves this issue will earn their vote. Social media has amplified these demands, with youth publicly backing candidates addressing the animal problem.
Past successes reinforce this trend. Elleti Mamatha in Kodimyal (Jagtial) won a previous election by fulfilling her promise to remove around 3,000 monkeys, while Panja Mahender in Nizampet (Medak) spent Rs. 3.5 lakh to relocate 600 monkeys, gaining community support. In Mahbubabad’s Guduru, candidate Vankudot Komma Nayak spent Rs. 8 lakh to control over 200 monkeys from Chittoor. These examples demonstrate that in many Telangana villages, election outcomes are now heavily influenced by candidates’ ability to address the nuisance posed by monkeys and dogs.