All eyes on Medak Lok Sabha seat by-election

Hyderabad: All eyes are on the byelection to the prestigious Medak Lok Sabha seat, which fell vacant due to the resignation of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. Mr Rao, who won from both Medak Lok Sabha and Gajwel Assembly segment, retained the Gajwel seat and went on to become the CM.

Following the notification for elections, a large number of aspirants are in the fray. They include TNGOs president Devi Prasad, owner of Soni Travels Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, close aide of Mr Chandrasekhar Rao S. Subhas Reddy, and a realtor from Siddipet Praveen Reddy.

All aspirants are knocking on the doors of the CM for nomination. The CM is likely to take a decision only after his return from Singapore. However, TNGOs office-bearers met at TNGOs Bhavan and moved a resolution seeking a ticket to its president Mr Devi Prasad.

Meanwhile, following EC’s announcement, Mr Chandrasekhar Rao held a close-door meeting with minister T. Harish Rao and others on fielding of candidates. Speculation about Telangana BJP president G. Kishan Reddy contesting the elections was denied by Mr Reddy. “I am not going to contest, I am comfortable as MLA from Amberpet. We are looking for candidates, the names will be announced by the BJP Parliamentary Board,” Mr Kishan Reddy told this correspondent.

Telugu Desam Party president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu began taking opinions from party leaders on the bypoll. It is not clear whether TDP will leave the contest to BJP or contest on its own.

TPCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah also consulted senior party leaders like D. Srinivas, K. Jana Reddy, Uttam Kumar Reddy and others. Though the Congress failed to win in any of the Assembly segment in Medak Lok Sabha, names of party bigwigs like former minister Suneetha Laxma Reddy, former government whip Turpu Jayaprakash Reddy (Jaggareddy) and former MP Vijayashanti names are being floated.