The competition within the ruling Congress for the Governor’s quota MLC posts is intensifying by the day, with the aspirants trying to checkmate each other. This is more so among the BC leaders. With the chief minister declaring that a Padmasali will be nominated to one of the posts, a key TPCC leader is believed to be moving pawns in such a way as to prevent a leader from that community, who is also a former legislator, from being picked from the district to which they both belong. This is being seen as a move to prevent the creation of another power centre in that particular district. Meanwhile, the name of freedom fighter and Telangana activist Konda Laxman Bapuji’s daughter is also doing the rounds, raising quite a few eyebrows. While most of the leaders are discussing how her name suddenly came up for consideration, a few are attributing it to those who are against the chief minister. Nevertheless, a majority of them are believed to be leaving no stone unturned in their attempt to thwart this move.
A game of political one-upmanship
On multiple occasions, the chief minister amply clarified that his focus from now on will be on the Sircilla and Siddipet segments, the strongholds of key BRS leaders KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao respectively. He, in fact, recently held a massive public meeting in Sircilla, taking the fight to KTR’s home turf while simultaneously launching a series of projects in the constituency. The chief minister, however, is yet to announce his plans for Siddipet in terms of public meetings and development works. Nonetheless, Harish Rao, the wily veteran that he is, tried to go one-up on the chief minister, by hosting grand celebrations to mark 10 years of the formation of Siddipet district, highlighting KCR’s contribution to both the district and the constituency. Leaders from both the ruling party and the Opposition are now wondering what the chief minister’s response will be.