HYDERABAD: It’s literally all in the family in Telangana as the next generation steps up to carry forward the political legacy of their elders in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Across party lines, tickets have been allocated to candidates from 12 political families — from first to third-generation leaders — even as “dynastic parties” has been the oft-heard slogan on the national level. In the state, the Congress has allotted six tickets to such families, while five leaders have got the BJP nomination and one from the BRS.
Gaddam Vamhi Krishna is contesting from Peddapalli on a Congress ticket. He is a third-generation politician, being the grandson of former Union minister Gaddam Venkataswamy, son of Gaddam Vivek and nephew of MLA Gaddam Vinod. In Zaheerabad, former MP Suresh Shetkar, the son of three-time MLA Shivrao Shetkar, is in the fray while Suneetha Mahender Reddy, wife of ex-minister Patnam Mahender Reddy, is contesting for the Malkajgiri seat.
Mallu Ravi, the Congress candidate from Nagarkurnool, comes from a prominent political family. His elder brother is former MP Mallu Anantha Ramulu while his younger brother is Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.
K Raghuveer Reddy, contesting on behalf of Congress for the Nalgonda seat, is the son of ex-minister K Jana Reddy while Kadiyam Kavya, who recently joined the Congress, is the daughter of former deputy CM Kadiyam Srihari.
Notable among BJP candidates is P Bharat from Nagarkurnool, son of MP P Ramulu, who recently shifted allegiance from the BRS to the saffron party. DK Aruna, contesting from Mahbubnagar, is the daughter of former MLA Chittem Narsi Reddy.
In Nizamabad, sitting MP Dharmapuri Arvind is carrying on the political legacy of his father, former minister Dharmapuri Srinivas. Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, a former MP, hails from the lineage of Konda Venkata Rangareddy, the first deputy chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
BRS’s Mahabubabad candidate Maloth Kavitha is the daughter of former minister DS Redya Nayak.
6 Number of tickets the Congress allotted to family members of prominent politicians
Peddapalli - Gaddam Vamshi Krishna, son of MLA Gaddam Vivek
Zaheerabad - Suresh Shetkar, son of three-time MLA Shivrao Shetkar
Malkajgiri - Suneetha Mahender Reddy, wife of former minister Patnam Mahender Reddy
Nagarkurnool - Mallu Ravi, brother of former MP Mallu Anantha Ramulu and present Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka
Nalgonda - K Raghuveer Reddy, son of ex-minister K Jana Reddy and brother of MLA K Jayaveer Reddy
Warangal - Kadiyam Kavya, daughter of former deputy CM Kadiyam Srihari
5 Candidates the BJP picked from political families
Adilabad - Godam Nagesh, son of ex-AP minister G Rama Rao
Nagarkurnool - P Bharat, son of MP P Ramulu
Mahbubnagar - DK Aruna, daughter of former MLA Chittem Narsi Reddy
Nizamabad - Dharmapuri Arvind, son of former minister Dharmapuri Srinivas
Chevella - Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, grandson of first deputy CM of AP Konda Venkata Ranga Reddy
1 The BRS gave ticket to just one political family
Mahabubabad - Maloth Kavitha, daughter of ex-minister DS Redya Nayak