Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will contest from two seats, his traditional Gajwel seat as well as from Kamareddy constituency as the TRS today released the list of candidates for 115 Assembly seats for the upcoming elections.
Confident of winning between 95 and 105 seats out of 119 seats with the support from friendly party AIMIM, Rao said that they renominated most sitting MLAs except in seven seats while keeping four seats pending.
Even current Malkajgiri MLA Mynampally Hanumantha Rao, who is seeking a Congress ticket for his son from Medak and slammed senior BRS leader and Finance Minister T Harish Rao, accusing him of stalling development of Medak, was named in the list though KCR warned that those indulging in anti-party activities will be thrown out mercilessly.
BRS changed the candidates in seven constituencies including Boath, Khanapur, Wyra, Korutla, Uppal, Asifabad and Vemulawada. Four seats have been kept including Goshamahal and Nampally in the AIMIM dominated old city area of Hyderabad, Narsapur and Jangaon.
In Huzurabad, BRS rewarded Padi Kaushik Reddy who had joined the party from the Congress just before the bypoll when the seat went to the BJP while giving ticket to Lasya Nanditha from Secunderabad Cantonment seat which was held by her father till recently before his demise.
All the ministers have been renominated. Rao also announced that the party will hold a huge rally in Warangal on 16 October and release the party manifesto on the same day. Rao also iterated that the BRS will not ally with any other party or front.
Asked why he was contesting from two seats this time, the Chief Minister said: “The party has decided I should contest from two seats” adding that the Kamareddy MLA had requested him and so had Nizamabad but he ultimately decided upon Kamareddy.
It may be pointed out that both Congress PCC president A Revanth Reddy and BJP leader Etela Rajender have been stating that Gajwel would pose a tough challenge for Rao but KCR dismissed all such talks reminding his audience how he had won Karimnagar MP seat before quitting to contest again from Mahabubnagar seat and won it as well.
Ahead of elections, KCR said iterated his friendly relations with Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, saying that the BRS will win 29 Assembly seats in Rangareddy and Hyderabad districts with the support of AIMIM.
Last time too Owaisi had campaigned for the BRS, wresting the crucial Muslim votes from the Congress to the BRS. He also added that his party’s poll plank will be “progress and its continuation” in Telangana, which he claimed was the most progressive state in the country.