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Fight in the Telangana Congress camp helps the BRS get a possible Lok Sabha candidate

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BySouth First Desk

Published Jul 27, 2023 | 6:00 PM ⚊UpdatedJul 27, 2023 | 6:00 PM

Congress leader Komatireddy Venkata Reddy. (Supplied)

“This is quite a game, politics. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests,” goes the adage. It holds much significance as the elections are near.

Bhongir Congress MP Komatireddy Venkata Reddy, who had fallen out with former Yadadri Bhongir District Congress Committee (DCC) president K Anil Kumar Reddy may have to face him in the electoral battlefield if the former chooses to contest to the Lok Sabha from Bhongir in 2024.

Anil Kumar Reddy is now with the BRS. He was miffed over Venkata Reddy backing a Backward Classes (BC) leader to contest from the Bhongir Assembly segment. He was seething when BRS troopers swarming his district “hijacked” him politically and presented him to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

The situation, though overwhelming, was new to Anil Kumar. KCR has been inaccessible to rival politicians. The chief minister himself received the former DCC president, and even before he could realise it, he was in the BRS.

After inducting him, KCR asked both Anil Kumar and Bhongir MLA Pailla Shekhar Reddy to work together, implying that a Lok Sabha seat was up for grabs, and the latter should be ready to take up the challenge.

For KCR and the BRS, Anil Kumar was a good catch. Ever since Dr Boora Narsaiah Goud — who lost to Venkata Reddy in 2019 — crossed over to the BJP, the BRS has been looking for a suitable candidate in the Bhongir Lok Sabha seat.

Related: Miffed at Venkata Reddy, DCC chief quits party to join BRS

The development, however, has hit the Congress hard. Not only did they lose a DCC president to the BRS, but it will now be compelled to accommodate Venkata Reddy’s interests.

The possibility of Anil Kumar facing Venkata Reddy in the Bhongir Lok Sabha poll seems remote. The latter would prefer the Assembly as he is being considered as one of the frontrunners for the chief minister’s post.

If the party bites the dust in the elections, and he wins, Venkata Reddy would have two options: Continue as an MLA or or seek election to the Lok Sabha from Bhongir. He may not go with the latter option since he is not Lok Sabha material.

He may invite his brother Rajagopal Reddy, who is feeling suffocated in the BJP, to the Congress fold and offer him the Bhongir Lok Sabha seat. Rajagopal Reddy is not new to the constituency since he had represented it in the Lok Sabha in the past. However, it all depends on TPCC president A Revanth Reddy.