Aspiring Candidates Jostle for Congress, BJP Tickets in Reserved Lok Sabha Seats
HYDERABAD: Action is heating up and aspiring candidates are putting in all-round efforts to impress the party high command in both the national parties, the Congress and the BJP, for the reserved seats in Telangana state.
The ruling party at the Centre and in the state are keen to maximise their wins in the five reserved constituencies in the state – the two seats of Adilabad and Mahbubabad (Scheduled Tribes), and Peddapalle, Nagarkurnool and Warangal (Scheduled Castes).
Ironically, the BRS, which was the TRS in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, had won four out of these five reserved seats, with only Adilabad voting for the BJP candidate. But none of the BRS MPs want to contest, and their recalcitrance on the matter has been emphatically communicated to the pink party bosses.
While Borlakunta Venkatesh Netha has joined the Congress, Pothuganti Ramulu has joined the BJP. The other two sitting MPs, Kavitha Malothu and Dayakar Pasunoori, also may not opt for BRS, as per sources.
Equally interestingly, most BJP sources are certain that Adilabad BJP MP Soyam Bapu Rao may be changed and a new candidate is certain to get the ticket, even though the constituency is seen by most analysts as having definitely turned saffron.
But there is a keen contest going on between frontrunner Rajesh Babu Jadhav, chairman of the Bhainsa agriculture market committee, and Godam Nagesh, former TRS MP, who is reportedly set to join the BJP. While Nagesh is from the Gond sub-caste, Rajesh Babu hails from the Lambada community.
“Only one of the MLAs, Payal Shankar (Adilabad), is supporting Godam Nagesh, whereas the rest of the MLAs and a large number of party leaders and cadre are supporting Rajesh Babu Jadhav. While Rajesh Babu, whose was a government officer and resigned from his posts and job for the Telangana statehood agitation, and his family has influence in the area, his wife having been a two-term sarpanch and his brother having served as a mandal vice-president and ZPTC, Nagesh is not liked by most of the party because he once cast his deciding vote during an election for chairmanship of the Bhainsa municipality in favour of the MIM,” a senior party leader from the district said.
“Being a Lambada also helps because while Lambadas and Adivasis matter more here, Gonds have a stronger presence in Mahbubabad,” he added.
The BJP is likely to choose between Bangaru Shruthi, daughter of former national president the late Bangaru Laxman, among a host of other aspirants including K. Ramulu for the Nagarkurnool (SC) constituency. In Warangal, retired IPS officer Krishna Prasad, who served in a DGP rank, is the frontrunner for the BJP.
For the Congress, Warangal is seeing a keen tussle among at least five aspiring contestants, with spokesperson Addanki Dayakar being the leading candidate. Others in the race as per sources include Dommati Sambaiah and Dr Parameshwar.
In Nagarkurnool, the Congress race is split between senior leader and former MP Mallu Ravi, who recently resigned from his nominated position as Special Representative of the Telangana state government in Delhi, and Sampath Kumar. In Peddapalli, B. Venkatesh Netha, who recently joined from the BRS, is a frontrunner.
In the Mahbubabad (ST) constituency, the race is tied among three leaders for the Congress, including senior leader and former Lok Sabha MP Balram Naik, and Bellaiah Naik, who contested the recent Assembly elections. The dark horse in the race, who has caught the attention of the party with his high acceptance scores in people surveys is a highly educated and successful entrepreneur, Sobhan Babu Bhukya.
The biggest change in fortune is that of the BRS, for which no candidate now, it seems, is inclined to even consider contesting.
A political observer said, “The BRS would do well to even get its deposit in all these reserved seats. The fight is between the Congress and the BJP. The BJP has an edge in Adilabad, whereas the Congress could win the rest.”
