Three Reddys and a Lok Sabha Constituency

All eyes on the byelection to Medak Parliamentary constituency on September 13; seat vacated by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao

SANGAREDDY: It will be a three-horse race for Medak byelection scheduled to be held on September 13. Wednesday being the last day for filing nominations, all the contesting political parties--Congress, BJP and TRS--finalised their candidates at the eleventh hour.

Interestingly, the triangular contest for the prestigious Medak Lok Sabha seat, vacated by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao necessitating the byelection, will witness a contest among three Reddys as all the three nominees belong to the influential Reddy community.

The Congress party, after much brainstorming, relied on a women leader, former minister for women and child welfare V Sunitha Lakshma Reddy, to revive its electoral fortunes. The ruling TRS chose first-timer Kotha Prabhaka Reddy, a businessman and state-level leader of the party, to be its candidate. The BJP preferred to bet on former Sangareddy MLA and government whip in the previous Congress government, Thurupu Jayaprakash Reddy alias Jagga Reddy, as its candidate (Reddy joined the saffron party a few hours before his nomination).

The Medak Parliamentary constituency is considered a TRS bastion. With all the seven Assembly segments in the constituency, including CM KCR’s Gajwel and his nephew and Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao’s Siddipet, being held by TRS, political circles say that the victory of TRS in the byelection is a foregone conclusion.

However, both Congress and BJP are hopeful that this time, they will give a tough fight to the ruling TRS and wrest the seat form it. All the three contestants have good rapport with people and leaders in the district, particularly in Medak Parliamentary Constituency, and all of them hail from the district.

Vakiti Sunitha Lakshma Reddy

Party: Congress

• Three-time MLA from Narsapur Assembly Constituency in Medak district.
• First contested in 1999 and since then was elected MLA three times in a row.
• Served as minister in the cabinets of YS Rajasekhara Reddy, K Rosaiah and N Kiran Kumar Reddy.
• Held portfolios of minor irrigation, and women and child welfare.
• Has good rapport with her party leaders in the district.
• She banks on her track record of developing the constituency both as MLA and minister, and is confident of victory in the byelection.

'I had developed my Narasapur constituency and contributed for the development of Medak district. On the other hand, the TRS government had failed to keep the promises made in its election manifesto and public are eager to teach it a lesson.

V Sunitha Lakshma Reddy

Thurupu Jayaprakash Reddy

Party: BJP

•  Two-time MLA from Sangareddy Assembly constituency of Medak district
•  First contested in 2004 and since then was elected MLA twice in a row.
•  Was member of BJP from 1987 to 2002.
•  Joined TRS in 2004 and contested election for Sangareddy Assembly seat and won.
•  Left TRS around 2005 when some MLAs left the pink party
•  Contested as MLA from Sangareddy in 2009 on Congress ticket and won.
•  Made government whip in Kiran Kumar Reddy’s government.
•  Made district Congress president in August, 2014.
•  Joined BJP on August 27.
•  He banks on Modi’s charm to get him through the election.

'My work for Sangareddy constituency speaks of my commitment to the people. KCR had only made false promises. Where is the promised seven-hour power supply to the farmers. Give me a chance. I will develop Medak with Prime Minister Narendera Modi’s help.

T Jayaprakash Reddy

Kotha Prabhakar Reddy

Party: TRS

• TRS leader and a prominent business man form the district.
• Entered mainstream politics by joining TRS in 2009
• Considered very close to KCR and his family.
• Native of Dubbaka in Medak district and had done extensive work to strengthen the party.
• Aspired to contest from Dubbaka in 2014 Assembly elections, but KCR promised to field him as MP candidate from Medak.
• Keeping his promise, KCR chose him as TRS candidate for Medak Lok Sabha bypoll.
• He banks on the KCR’s charm, present government’s welfare programmes and strong party cadre.

[TRS is the only party which thinks and cares about the people. Once elected, with the help of CM KCR, I will make Medak a role model in the country.

Kotha Prabhakar Reddy