KHAMMAM: Ever since the BJP announced its pick for the Khammam Lok Sabha seat, a pall of gloom has descended on former Kothagudem MLA Jalagam Venkat Rao’s camp.
Venkat Rao, who is the son of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jalagam Vengala Rao, recently joined the BJP hoping that the saffron party will allot him the Khammam ticket to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
However, Venkat Rao and his supporters were dealt a huge blow when the BJP announced industrialist Tandra Vinod Rao as its candidate in Khammam on Sunday.
The BJP denying him the ticket came as a huge shock to Venkat Rao’s supporters, especially since he wields considerable influence in erstwhile Khammam district thanks to his father’s legacy and his own popularity.
In fact, he was the only BRS candidate from the erstwhile Khammam district to taste success in the 2014 Assembly elections when he bagged the Kothagudem seat. In the 2018 polls, he was defeated by Vanama Venkateswara Rao of the Congress. In the 2023 elections too, he contested unsuccessfully as an Independent after the BRS denied him the ticket.
His supporters believe that the BJP had a fair chance of winning the seat if it had allotted ticket to Venkat Rao.
“We are hurt by the BJP’s decision to pick Vinod Rao instead of Venkat Rao. We are unable to digest this,” says T Nagaraju, one of Venkat Rao’s followers. “The BJP had the better chances of winning clinching the seat had it picked Venkata Rao,” he added. Meanwhile, TNIE’s attempt to reach Venkat Rao for a comment proved futile.
