Telangana polls: 15 Doctors Emerge Victorious
In battle of Richie Rich candidates some win and others face defeat
Hyderabad: The voters of Telangana elected at least 15 doctors, who now comprise 12 per cent of the House. This means at least one in 10 MLAs is a doctor in the Assembly. Of the winners, 11 doctors were from the Congress, one from the BJP and three from the BRS.
Also elected were Danasari Anusuya alias Seethakka, who completed her PhD from Osmania University, from Mulug and Yashswini Reddy an engineer who worked in the USA, from Palakurthy.
The results showed that crorepati candidates did well. Leading the list were Congress candidates Gaddam Vivekanand (Chennur, Rs 600 crore assets), Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy (Munugode, Rs 458 crore) and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy (Palair, Rs 467 crore)
BRS MP Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, who defeated the BJP’s M. Raghunandan Rao at Dubbak, had listed assets worth Rs 383 crore in his election affidavit.
But wealthy candidates didn’t always win, even if they were defeated by prosperous candidates. BRS candidate Paila Sekhar Reddy, who listed Rs 247 crore assets, was defeated by the Congress’ Kumbam Anil Reddy at Bhongir whose assets stood at about Rs 211 crore.
In another clash of the crorepatis, the BRS Nagarkurnool candidate Marri Janardhan Reddy, with Rs 161 assets, lost to Dr Kuchkulla Rajesh Reddy with Rs 29 crore in assets.
On the other hand, more than 50 per cent of winners, who belong to all major political parties, have criminal records.
Leading the list was TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy with 89 criminal cases, most of which were regarding his comments on the police as well as while holding protests on public issues.
He was followed by BJP MLA T. Raja Singh with 75 cases, many of which are for hate speech. BJP MLA-elect from Kamareddy, Katipally Venkata Ramana Reddy, who defeated Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and Revanth Reddy, faces 11cases.
About 40 MLA-elects of the Congress face criminal cases, most of which were registered against them for holding protests.
In the BRS, 15 MLA-elects face criminal cases, with outgoing minister and Karimnagar Gangula Kamalakar facing ten followed by Chandrashekar Rao with nine, K.T. Rama Rao with eight and Patlolla Sabita Indra Reddy with five. Most of these cases were booked at the time of the statehood agitation .