Hyderabad: Mystery remained over Malkajgiri MLA Mynampalli Hanumantha Rao’s BRS candidature even four days after he wielded a threat to finish off finance minister T. Harish Rao politically and putting a condition to the party leadership that he would accept re-nomination only if his son Rohit Rao was alloted the Medak ticket.
The dissident MLA is said to be pursing alternative options with the Congress and the BJP with the rider continuing to be a ticket to his son.
Sources said he had offered to bear the expenses of all nine candidates of undivided Medak district of whichever party that agrees to allot tickets to the father-son duo.
He has convened a meeting with party workers to discuss the future and, according to sources, a majority of them is not willing to switch loyalties, though he is still open to exploring new avenues.
Doing the rounds is an audio tape in which Hanumantha Rao is purportedly boasting of his daredevilry and his care-a-damn attitude towards Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was also critical of TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy.
Significantly, despite Hanumantha Rao’s warning to Harish Rao, and minister K.T. Rama Rao and MLC K. Kavitha rushing to condemn the MLA, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has remained neutral. He left it to the Malkajgiri MLA to abide by the party’s decision.
BRS leaders like Krishank Manne, who was denied a ticket from Secunderabad Cantonment, went overboard and took on Hanumantha Rao, apparently following the instructions of his boss Rama Rao. At one stage there were leaks from a section of ruling party leaders that minister Ch Malla Reddy’s son-in-law Rajasekhar Reddy would be made the BRS candidate in Malkajgiri.
Sources said Rao spoke to BJP election management committee chairman Etala Rajendar and TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy.
He sought to know why BJP can’t promise tickets to the father and son when it extended the privilege to former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa and his son Vijayendra.
The PCC chief, according to party sources, expressed inability to promise tickets to the father-son duo in view of uncertainty over the high command’s decision on two tickets for a family.
