Hyderabad: Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy, nominated by the TRS for the crucial Munugode Assembly by-election, said the party would score a 'hat-trick' in Nalgonda district after its triumphs in Huzurnagar and Nagarjunasagar by-elections.
He said the voters of Munugode were eagerly waiting to teach a lesson to Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy for neglecting the constituency and for putting their self-respect at the feet of BJP for a Rs 21,000-crore coal contract.
In an exclusive interview to Deccan Chronicle on Friday soon after taking B-Form from TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao at Pragathi Bhavan, Prabhakar Reddy said he was fortunate to be the last candidate to contest an election on behalf of TRS before it transforms into Bharat Rashtra Samiti.
Excerpts:
Q: Did you expect to get the ticket after losing in 2018 and amid a growing demand to nominate a BC leader?
A: I didn't have even an iota of doubt. I was confident that Chandrashekar Rao and K.T. Rama Rao would recognise my services since 2003. Although I lost in 2018, I never stayed away from the constituency. I continue to remain accessible.
Q: What are your prospects?
A: TRS has been winning by-elections in Nalgonda district with a big majority since 2018. We won Huzurnagar in 2019 and Nagarjunasagar in 2021. We trounced Congress heavyweights N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and K. Jana Reddy. We are sure to achieve a hat-trick by defeating Rajgopal Reddy with a big majority.
Munugode people are angry with Rajgopal Reddy for ditching them and joining BJP for the sake of his vested business interests and contracts and forcing an unnecessary by-poll on the people. He never cared for the constituency nor was he accessible. He did not have time to distribute Kalyana Lakshmi cheques. Whatever development has happened in the constituency, has been during my term from 2014.
Q: How is the response from the people to the TRS campaign?
A: It's not an exaggeration to say that there is not a single household in Munugode, which has not received benefits from the TRS government's welfare schemes and development programmes. We have identified 3,34,994 beneficiaries in Munugode constituency, who received benefits to the tune of Rs 10,260 crore since 2014. All these beneficiaries are our brand ambassadors and are campaigning for TRS.
