Kavitha’s Lok Sabha loss hits 2 ministerial aspirants

Hyderabad: The defeat of K. Kavitha, who stood from the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency in the general election this year has affected the prospects of former minister Mandava Venkateswara Rao and former speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy.

The former speaker joined the TRS in Septem-ber 2018, prior to the Assembly elections, and though everyone expected that he would contest the Assembly elections, he did not do so. There was talk in the party that party chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao had asked him to wait for some time and he would be given a good position in the party.

Mr Suresh Reddy joined the TRS when the rift occurred in the Nizama-bad unit of the party between TRS Rajya Sabha member D. Srinivas and other leaders.
It was rumoured that to face D. Srinivas, the TRS chief had taken Suresh Reddy into the party as the latter has a good hold on the district. Mr Rao, it was said, had promised to send Suresh Reddy to the Rajya Sabha.

During the turmeric and red jowar farmers’ tussle at the time of the Lok Sabha elections in Nizam-abad, the TRS boss had personally visited the residence of Venkateswara Rao, his colleague in the Telugu Desam, and invited him to join the TRS.

The party chief had taken his colleague into the TRS even though Venkateswara Rao had announced his retirement from politics a couple of years ago.  But he still had clout in the farming community of the district and could influence farmers to support the TRS candidate Ms Kavitha.

It is significant to note that Venkateswara Rao was invited into the party after the Assembly elections in which Tummala Nageswara Rao, another colleague of the Chief Minister, lost the election.

After taking him into the party, Mr Rao had nominated Mr Tummala for the Legislative Council and inducted him into his Cabinet.  The defeat of Ms Kavitha in the LS elections is said to have dented the political careers of both these senior leaders who joined the TRS as its troubleshooters.