Congress leaders vie for safe Bhongir Lok Sabha seat

Hyderabad: Senior Congress leaders are eyeing the Bhongir Lok Sabha seat, which is being seen as safe for the party, ahead of the elections.  Several senior Congress leaders including former minister Ponnala Laxmaiah and former MP and MLC Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy are trying for the ticket. The Bhongir constituency was formed after the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies, and Mr Rajag-opal Reddy was elected as its first MP in 2009. He lost in 2014 by about 30,000 votes to the TRS’s Bura Narasiah. The TRS won six seats and the TD the seventh. 

After the elections TD MLA Manchireddy Kishan Reddy from Ibrahimpatnam joined the TRS. Mr Rajagopal Reddy was subsequently made MLC. Now, he wants to contest from this seat in 2019. Of the seven Assembly seats comprising Bhongir LS seat, one each falls in old Warangal and Ranga Reddy districts. The other five are in the old Nalgonda district.

Mr Laxmaiah too wants the seat. He was elected four times from Jangaon Assembly constituency of War-angal district which is part of the Bhongir Lok Sabha constituency. Nalgonda District Congress Committee president Bhikshamaiah Goud also wants to contest from the Bhongir LS seat.  Mr Ramreddy Sarvotham Reddy, Mr Gud-uru Narayana Reddy and TPCC chief spoke-sperson Dasoju Sravan are also in the race.