HYDERABAD: Living up to his billing of springing surprises, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday dropped four sitting MPs including TRS Parliamentary Party leader AP Jitender Reddy and renominated nine other sitting MPs while allotting tickets to the aspirants for the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the State.
In place of sitting MPs who have been dropped and for the remaining four seats, the Chief Minister brought in fresh faces.Those dropped, apart from Jitender Reddy (Mahbubnagar) were: Azmeera Seetharam Naik (Mahabubabad), Gutha Sukhender Reddy (Nalgonda) and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy (Khammam).
Among those renominated included Kalvakuntla Kavitha (Nizamabad) and TRS deputy floor leader in Lok Sabha B Vinod Kumar (Karimnagar), BB Patil (Zaheerabad), Pasunuri Dayakar (Warangal), Kotha Prabhakar Reddy (Medak) and B Narasaiah Goud (Bhongir) and G Nagesh (Adilabad). For Nagarkurnool, the Chief Minister fielded former minister P Ramulu.
Fresh faces include: B Venkatesh Nethakani (Peddapalli), Maloth Kavitha (Mahabubabad), Nama Nageswara Rao (Khammam), Vemireddy Narasimha Reddy (Nalgonda), Manne Srinivasa Reddy (Mahbubnagar), Gaddam Ranjith Reddy (Chevella), Talasani Saikiran Yadav (Secunderabad), Marri Rajasekhar Reddy (Malkajgiri) and Puste Srikanth (Hyderabad).
The surprises in allotment of tickets were that of former TDP MP Nama Nageswara Rao who was given ticket to contest from Khammam immediately after he joined the party in the morning.
Similarly, though it was widely expected that KCR would field G Vivek, son of former MP G Venkataswamy from Peddapalli, KCR had brought in B Venkatesh Nethakani, who lost Assembly election from Chennur on Congress ticket in December last. According to sources, KCR clinched his candidature after incumbent MLA Balka Suman’s recommendation. Venkatesh too joined the TRS only this morning.
The Chief Minister set aside the candidature of Vivek after complaints from MLAs in Peddapalli Lok Sabha segment that he had worked against their interests in the last Assembly elections. Nama Nageswara Rao, fighting on TDP ticket lost to TRS nominee P Ajay Kumar in Khammam in the last Assembly election.
Nageswara Rao, who toyed with the idea of joining the Congress, finally found solace in KCR’s arms. Nageswara Rao was TDP Parliamentary Party leader in the previous Lok Sabha.According to sources, the reason for dropping Jitender Reddy was that he reportedly acted against the TRS candidates in the Assembly elections in the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district.
Though, the party won nine of the 10 Assembly seats in Mahbubnagar district, a few party MLAs in the district reportedly complained to KCR and KTR that Jitender Reddy worked against them in the Assembly elections.
According to sources, Gutha Sukhender Reddy was denied ticket as KCR decided to send him to send to the Legislative Council. Accordingly, Sukhender Reddy’s name has been announced for Council elections.
For Chevella Lok Sabha seat, as sitting TRS MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy had defected to Congress, the Chief Minister fielded industrialist Gaddam Ranjith Reddy.Though Congress MLA and former Minister Sabita Indra Reddy who joined the TRS recently sought Chevella seat to her son Karthik Reddy, the Chief Minister preferred Ranjith Reddy.
At the time of joining the TRS, the Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao reportedly assured her that if he cannot allot Chevella ticket to her son, he would send him to the Legislative Council and consider taking her into the Cabinet in future. For Secunderabad, the party fielded Talasani Sai Kiran Yadav, son of Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav.
Likewise, from Mahabubabad, the CM cleared the candidature of Maloth Kavitha, daughter of Dornkal MLA DS Redya Naik. For Hyderabad, the TRS announced the candidature of Puste Srikanth, not a very popular leader but for the sake of contesting the seat. The TRS has already promised to leave the seat to sitting MP AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.
KCR’s Delhi campaign gets an army
Telangana Rashtra Samithi releases names of candidates for all 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State. These men and women, if they win, will be instrumental in realising Chief Minister and party supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao’s dream of calling the shots at the Centre in May
