Hyderabad: The BRS leadership has commissioned special surveys in 34 Assembly constituencies where its candidates had won with a small majority in the 2018 Assembly polls. These candidates include BRS MLAs and those who won with other parties but defected to the ruling party.
The prime focus is on constituencies where the party candidates won with a majority of less than 5,000 votes. They include social welfare minister Koppula Eshwar, who won by 440 votes in Dharmapuri.
Surveys are being done to assess the winning prospects of these MLAs and to find alternative candidates in constituencies where the survey findings indicate slim chances of incumbents retaining their seat.
Party sources said that BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao would hold one-on-one meetings with MLAs of these constituencies to discuss the findings and the party's strategy to boost their winning prospects in such constituencies. Survey reports are being obtained every week from these constituencies unlike in other constituencies where it is being done once in a fortnight.
Among those with a less-than-5,000-vote margin are minister Koppula Eshwar, who won by 440 votes in Dharmapuri and faces a potential vote recount following a petition by his Congress rival Adluri Laxman. The issue has been mired in a controversy with the keys to the strongroom where the EVMs are stored going missing.
Two other BRS MLAs won with less than 1,000-vote margin: Manchireddy Kishan Reddy (376, Ibrahimpatnan); Bollam Mallaiah Yadav (756 votes, Kodad).
Kaleru Venkatesh (1,016, Amberpet); Gadari Kishore (1,847, Tungaturthy); Methuku Anand (3,092, Vikarabad; Jaipal Yadav (3,447, Kalwakurthy); Gampa Govardhan (4,557 votes, Kamareddy) and N. Diwakar Rao (4,838 votes, Mancherial) were other BRS MLAs with a margin of victory smaller than 5,000 votes.
The rest in the 5,000-vote band were defectors from the Congress who joined the ruling party after the election —Athram Sakku (171 votes, Asifabad), P. Rohith Reddy (2, 875, Tandur), Haripriya Banoth (2,887, Yellandu) and Vanama Venkateshwara Rao (4,139 votes, Kothagudem) — as well as Lavudya Ramulu who won as an independent with 2,013 votes from Wyra and joined the BRS later.
BRS candidates who won with a majority varying between 5,000 and 10,000 votes include energy minister G. Jagadish Reddy (5,967 votes); endowments minister Allola Indrakaran Reddy (9,271 votes, Nirmal) and Narender (9,319 votes, Kodangal).
There are three others in this band, who won on a Congress ticket and defected to the BRS later: education minister Sabitha Indra Reddy (9,227 votes, Maheshwaram); Patnam Chirumarthi Lingaiah (8,259 votes, Nakrekal) and Kandala Upender Reddy (7,669 votes, Palair).
