SANGAREDDY: Siddipet constituency has always had a special place in the history of Telangana. Since 1985, people in the constituency have been showing their support to the cause of separate statehood by voting for TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao and his nephew T Harish Rao.
Rao could not secure a minsterial berth in the State Cabinet in 1999. And TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has given him the post of deputy Speaker.
But Rao did not continue for long in the post. He resigned to the MLA, deputy Speaker posts and even to the primary membership of the TDP in 2001 for launching Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).
In 2001, Rao contested on TRS ticket for the first time from Siddipet and set a record by garnering more than 57,000 votes and winning. The TDP and Congress rivals failed to secure even their deposits.
In 2004, Rao who forged an alliance with the Congress won both from Siddipet Assembly segment and Karimnagar Parliamentary constituency. And Rao chose to be as Karimnagar MP. He resigned to Siddipet MLA post.
In the by-election to Siddipet, Rao fielded his nephew T Harish Rao and the people endorsed him. Later, the TRS chief left the Congress alliance both at the Centre and in the State. And he focused on relaunching the Telangana movement.