CM K Chandrasekhar Rao springs a surprise, lists 105 names for poll

HYDERABAD: TRS President and Chief Minister Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday sprang a surprise by announcing candidates for 105 out of 119  Assembly seats along with the dissolution of the Assembly in a press conference.
Stating that the state should not become a ghulam (slave) at the feet of national parties in Delhi, he added that the state should be ruled on its own with dignity and self-respect like it was being done in Tamil Nadu.

All MLAs were renominated, barring Mr. Nallala Odelu from Chennur and actor Babumohan from Andhole. Tickets for another five MLAs including Ms Konda Surekha (Warangal East) were kept on hold. Mr. Rao said a decision would be taken on these seats in seven to 10 days. For the twin cities, where the BJP holds five seats, Mr Rao announced the TRS candidate only for Uppal and left out Amberpet, Khairatabad, Musheerabad and Goshamahal.

He rubbished suggestions that this was done to have friendly relations with the BJP. He reiterated that for the TRS, the MIM was a friendly party. Tickets for seats represented by TPCC Chief Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy (Huzurnagar) and his wife Padmavathi (Kodad) were also kept on hold indicating that the TRS boss was searching for strong candidates to take them on. Mr. Rao said that the tickets for Mr. Odelu and Mr. Babumohan were denied based on the surveys done by the party and that they would be accommodated suitably in some other posts later.

“The other seats’ candidatures are pending because there are multiple aspirants for these seats. We need to discuss with them before finalising these seats. The time was not sufficient to complete it now. We will announce tickets for these seats in next 7 to 10 days”, he explained. TRS sources said the delay for the declaration of tickets for seats held by BJP MLAs was because of new entrants to TRS like the erstwhile Congress leader Danam Nagender and expectations of a few more leaders joining in soon.