KARIMNAGAR: In the first list of candidates announced by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Monday, two sitting MLAs of the BRS from the former Karimnagar district were removed. From the past few days speculation went around in the BRS political circles of the united Karimnagar district that around five members of the sitting MLAs were not going to get the party ticket to contest in Assembly elections this time which included Vemulawada MLA Ch. Ramesh Babu, Ramagundam MLA K. Chander Patel, Jagtial MLA Dr S. Sanjay Kumar, Choppadandi MLA Sunke Ravi Shankar and Manakondur MLA R. Balakishan.
However, only two sitting MLAs were replaced, with the names of all other sitting MLAs included in the first list, along with MLA Padi Koushik Reddy from Huzurabad, where former minister and BJP MLA Etala Rajendar is representing, and ZP chairman Putta Madhukar from Manthnai, where Congress MLA D. Sridhar Babu was representing.
The CM claimed in releasing the initial list of candidates that Vemulawada MLA was a fine leader, but because he was facing allegations regarding citizenship controversy, he was replaced with Chelmeda Laxmi Narasimha Rao. The BRS ticket was allocated to his son Dr. Sanjay on the request of BRS Korutla MLA Kalvakuntla Vidhyasagar Rao, which cannot be termed replacing properly, he noted.
Meanwhile, while the sitting MLAs and their supporters are celebrating the occasion, the key leaders from Ramagundam and Jagtial Assembly constituencies who held secret meetings and intensified their lobbying opposing the candidature of the sitting MLAs of respective constituencies received a blow from the party leadership when the names of the sitting MLAs Dr. Sanjay Kumar from Jagtial and K. Chander Patel from Ramagundam were announced.
