Anti-incumbency May Hurt BRS in Undivided Rangareddy

HYDERABAD:The undivided Rangareddy district is a BRS stronghold, with the party winning all 17 Assembly seats in 2018, or attracting winners from the Congress. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has retained all the incumbents, except in Uppal, and dissidence in the party ranks in a majority of the seats is a major challenge for the party.

The political landscape has changed considerably since 2018, with the BRS grappling with infighting, the Congress despairing over defections and the BJP suffering from a lack of strong contenders.

In 2018, the BRS made a clean sweep of the five seats in Medchal-Malkajgiri district, losing one of four in Vikarabad and two of five in Rangareddy.

The three Congress leaders who defeated the BRS — Sabitha Indra Reddy (Maheshwaram), Devireddy Sudheer Reddy (LB Nagar) and ‘Pilot’ Rohith Reddy (Tandur) joined the BRS within six months of the polls.

While the BRS sought to gain the upper hand by announcing its candidates in advance, the move sparked dissent within its ranks, especially in Maheshwaram, between groups led by minister Sabitha Indra Reddy and ex-MLA Teegala Krishna Reddy. Tandur is also in a state of flux, given the tussle between MLA Rohith Reddy and MLC Patnam Mahender Reddy; the latter has been sworn in as a minister on the agreement that he will not insist on a ticket.

There is trouble brewing in Uppal, where the BRS leadership overlooked incumbent MLA Bethi Subhash Reddy and former GHMC mayor Bonthu Rammohan, opting for Bandari Laxma Reddy who had defected from the Congress in 2018.

In LB Nagar, the party retained MLA d. Sudheer Reddy, who defected from the Congress to the BRS. With this, BRS leader M. Ram Mohan Goud, who lost to Sudheer Reddy in 2018, is looking to join either the Congress or BJP. Goud on Tuesday held a meeting with his supporters to discuss his future course of action.

In Medchal, the party retained minister Ch Malla Reddy as the candidate, upsetting former MLA M. Sudheer Reddy, which has split the party cadre right down the middle.

In Kukatpally, MLA Madhavaram Krishna Rao, who secured the ticket again, is facing resistance from multiple aspirants.

There are also a few BRS MLAs who won by a slender margin in 2018, and the party is worried about their prospects in this year's Assembly polls due to anti-incumbency.

BRS MLA Manchireddy Kishan Reddy won by 376 votes in Ibrahimpatnam, Methuku Anand by 3,092 votes in Vikarabad, Rohith Reddy by 2,875 votes in Tandur. Despite this, the party has retained the MLAs, ignoring the demands of local BRS leaders to replace them.

The Congress and BJP, meanwhile, are waiting with bated breath for disgruntled BRS leaders to come to their fold.