KTR rebukes MLA Shankar Naik, who may not get poll ticket

Hyderabad: BRS Mahbubabad MLA Shankar Naik got a public dressing down from IT minister K.T. Rama Rao in Mahbubabad on Friday when he tried to get the minister to take a detour, sparking questions about his political future.

The incident fuelled speculation that the party leadership was very angry with the performance of Naik and that he would be denied a ticket to contest upcoming Assembly elections.

Naik had won the 2014 and 2018 elections but has courted controversy due to his abrasive behaviour in the public and his frequent run-ins with Mahbubabad MP Maloth Kavitha and minister Satyavathi Rathod.

Rama Rao was in Mahabubabad on Friday to launch development programmes besides distribution of podu land pattas to tribals. After inaugurating 2BHK houses for poor, Rama Rao was proceeding towards the newly-constructed integrated vegetable and meat market for its inauguration. Naik rushed towards the minister and tried to hold his hand, while requesting him to pass take another path where his supporters were ready to shower petals.

Angered by this, Rama Rao brushed off Naik's hand and reportedly told him not to resort to gimmicks but focus on being accessible to the people and work for development of the constituency. The MLA quietly followed Rama Rao and took part in the programmes.

The incident was similar to what Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao did when Mancherial MLA N. Diwakar Rao rushed to felicitate with a shaw at a public meeting on June 10.

It was stated that MLAs who had incurred the wrath of the CM and Rama Rao in public would not be renominated, and their poor rankings in the party surveys was the reason of the reaction of the top brass.