HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s recent comments regarding kin of senior leaders contesting the coming Assembly elections have left some veteran BRS Legislators in a quandary.During a programme in Banswada, KCR had said that Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy should contest again in the coming Assembly polls as he wanted the latter by his side in the Legislature. This came as a shock to many senior MLAs who had been preparing to make way for their children by fielding them in the coming elections.
For instance, the Speaker’s son, Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, who had been preparing to contest in the coming Assembly election, may drop out of the fray following the CM’s announcement.Similarly, other senior MLAs from the erstwhile Nizamabad district, who had prepared the ground for their successors, are now uncertain about their next move.
The CM’s comments have also affected the plans of other MLAs, such as Kamareddy MLA Gampa Govardhan, who had intended to field his son Shashank, while Nizamabad rural MLA Bajireddy Govardh-an had plans for his son Jagan.In erstwhile Karimnagar district, Korutla MLA Kalvakuntla Vidhyasagar had prepared the ground for his son Sanjay. Similarly, Mancherial MLA Nadipelli Diwakar Rao was making arrangements for his son.
In Rangareddy district, Ibrahimpatnam MLA Manchireddy Kishan Reddy’s son Prasanth Reddy had been was touring the constituency. Likewise, Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy’s son Karthik Reddy was planning to contest for the Maheshwaram seat.
There is a discussion going on among political and ruling party leaders that the coming Assembly election will not be easy to win due to the strong opposition from the Congress and the BJP, hence the BRS supremo has likely decided not to field successors at this moment to avoid giving opponents a chance to win.Political analysts suggest that KCR should not take any risks at this juncture, as he is expanding his party at the national level and focusing on winning as many Lok Sabha seats as possible.
Playing it safe
Analysts believe KCR doesn’t want to take any risk with newcomers as he is keen to form a ‘hat-trick government’