HYDERABAD: After increasing its seat tally to eight in Telangana, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to decide the party’s floor leader on Friday. According to sources, T Raja Singh, who was elected from Goshamahal, and Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, who was elected from Nirmal, are the frontrunners for the post.
However, K Venkata Ramana Reddy, who defeated former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and newly elected Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in Kamareddy in his electoral debut, might be a force to reckon with, the sources suggest. He emerged as the giant killer with a margin of 6,741 votes.
Raja Singh, who is known for his inflammatory speeches across the country, has represented the Goshamahal constituency since 2014. He was the party’s lone voice in the Legislative Assembly after the elections (BJP won two seats — Huzurabad and Dubbaka — in the bypolls). With a margin of 21, 457 votes, he secured a hattrick victory in the recently-concluded elections.
Allegations of derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad led to Raja Singh’s suspension from the saffron party last year. However, his suspension was revoked as the nomination date drew closer.
After crossing over to the BJP from the Congress, Maheshwar Reddy won the Nirmal seat convincingly with a margin of 50,703 votes against former minister and veteran leader A Indrakaran Reddy.
It is speculated that a better command of Telugu can give Maheshwar Reddy an edge over Raja Singh.
Speaking to TNIE, Maheshwar Reddy termed the news of him being the BJP floor leader “speculation” and asserted that he has not received any such information from the party leadership.