Telangana Elections 2023: Congress Rewards BRS Defectors With Seats in First List

The first list of the Telangana Congress, which announced 55 candidates, has rewarded the defectors from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

As declared by party president Revanth Reddy earlier, rebel BRS MLA Mynampally Hanumantha Rao, who joined the Congress recently, has received a ticket from Malkajgiri. His son, Rohith, got a ticket from Medak. Similarly, former minister Jupally Krishna Rao, who was suspended by the BRS for anti-party activities, got a ticket from Kollapur.

Nalgonda MP Uttam Kumar Reddy and his wife Padmavathi Reddy secured tickets from Huzurnagar and Kodad respectively, bending the party’s rule of awarding only one ticket to a family again. It remains to be seen which seat another defector from the BRS, Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, will get.

The former MP was suspended from the BRS along with Jupally Krishna Rao. He reportedly has been asking for a ticket from Paleru assembly constituency. The fate of another BRS leader, former minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, who joined the Congress recently, remains to be seen. He, too, reportedly has asked for a ticket from Palair constituency.

All sitting MLAs were renominated. They include Danasari Anasuya aka Sitakka from Mulugu, T Jagga Reddy from Sangareddy, D Sridhar Babu from Manthani, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka from Madhira, MLC T Jivan Reddy from Jagtiyal and Podem Veeraiah from Bhadrachalam.

Congress president Revanth Reddy will fight from Kodangal and Thumkunta Narsa Reddy will fight against Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao from Gajwel.

The allotment of tickets to newcomers might create unrest among old loyalists. In Kollapur, aspiring candidate Chintala Jagadeswara Rao set fire to Congress cutouts protesting against the allotment of ticket to Jupally Krishna Rao, who joined the party recently. There are 17 members from the Reddy community and 12 members from Backward Classes.

Recently, veteran backward class leader Ponnala Laxmaiah resigned from the Congress, alleging neglect towards the community and senior leaders. It remains to be seen how many more tickets backward class leaders get after Rahul Gandhi’s push for caste census and the community.