BRS begins search for strong candidate in Malkajgiri
Hanumantha Rao quit the BRS days after launching a tirade against Finance and Health Minister T Harish Rao, blaming the latter for the leadership not allotting the Medak ticket to his son Rohit.
Published: 25th September 2023 10:53 AM | Last Updated: 25th September 2023 10:53 AM | A+A A-
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HYDERABAD: The exit of MLA Mynampally Hanumantha Rao from the BRS has left the ruling party with the task of finding a suitable candidate in the Malkajgiri constituency in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Though his name was included in the list of 115 candidates announced by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Hanumantha Rao quit the BRS days after launching a tirade against Finance and Health Minister T Harish Rao, blaming the latter for the leadership not allotting the Medak ticket to his son Rohit. The BRS leadership is now searching for a strong leader who can take on Hanumantha Rao as well as the BJP’s candidate in the Malkajgiri segment. The party is believed to be looking for a leader who has a “good network”.
It may pick a candidate who has a good “connection” with the voters of all ages in the Malkajgiri segment, said a party source.In the last elections, Hanumanta Rao won the seat with a margin of 73,698 votes. BJP candidate N Ramachander Rao polled 40,451 votes. The Congress allotted the ticket to alliance partner Telangana Jana Samitih’s Kapilavai Dileep Kumar under their seat-sharing arrangement. He secured 34,219 votes.
According to BRS sources, Labour Minister Ch Malla Reddy’s son-in-law Marri Rajasekhar Reddy is eyeing the Malkajgiri ticket. In the 2019 General Election, Rajasekhar Reddy contested unsuccessfully from Malkajgiri Lok Sabha segment, which was won by the present TPCC president A Revanth Reddy.The former corporator from Goutham Nagar, Jithender Reddy too is trying for the ticket. He is also confident of getting the ticket as he is a “local candidate who is popular among the BRS cadre”. He is said to be in touch with BRS working president and Minister KT Rama Rao to get the party’s nod to contest from Malkajgiri.
Another key leader who is also in the race for the ticket is former Mayor of Hyderabad, Bontu Rammohan. Initially he was eyeing the Uppal ticket. However, the leadership allotted it to B Laxma Reddy while ignoring the sitting MLA B Subhash Reddy.Rammohan is also confident of getting the party’s approval to contest from Malkajgiri.
Wait and watch
Meanwhile, sources said that party’s leadership is likely to wait for a week to finalise the candidate. “The party will wait for at least a week to see if Mynampally joins the Congress. If he joins, the BRS will spring a surprise,” said a BRS leader without elaborating.While stating that the leadership may welcome ticket aspirants from “the rival party” ahead of polls, the sources said that it is not taking the “issue” lightly and is chalking out plans to defeat Mynampally.
