KCR appoints Dr Rajaiah as Station Ghanpur in-charge, promises to field him post Srihari’s disqualification

The BRS has been pressing for the disqualification of its three sitting MLAs Kadiyam Srihari, Danam Nagender (Khairatabad) and Tellam Venkat Rao (Bhadrachalam) after they joined the Congress. Srihari joined the grand old party along with his daughter Kadiyam Kavya.

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Political downfall, controversies

Dr Rajaiah, who represented Station Ghanpur in the Assembly between 2018 and 2023, was not renominated for the seat in the 2023 Assembly polls. He could not come to terms with the reality for a long time that he was dropped by the party supremo.

Rajaiah had a flaming row with Kadiyam Srihari as he saw him as one who was trying to usurp the constituency from him. There were instances of them hitting out at each other before the media.

This apart, Rajaiah landed in several controversies, including allegations of sexual harassment of a woman sarpanch. Party working president KT Rama Rao had advised him to mend his ways and not enter into verbal spats with Srihari. However, there was no improvement.

After the advent of the Congress government in the state in December 2023, Rajaiah quit BRS and joined the grand old party in February, hoping that he might be nominated to the Warangal SC Lok Sabha seat.

Here too, Srihari came in the way by joining the Congress, leaving the BRS. His daughter Kadiyam Kavya was allotted the Congress ticket for Warangal SC seat.

After Kavya left the BRS to join the Congress, even after KCR nominating her to the Warangal seat, Rajaiah allowed himself the luxury of the first stirrings of hope.

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Return to BRS

He had thought that if he returned to the BRS, KCR might nominate him for the seat. But his hopes were dashed once gain last Friday when KCR announced Hanamkonda ZP chairman M Sudheer Kumar’s name for the Warangal seat.

Realising that his plans had fallen through, he lay low until another opportunity presented itself.

When Rajaiah called on KCR at his farmhouse on Sunday, 14 April, the BRS supremo made him the in-charge of Station Ghanpur Assembly segment.

He reportedly told him that Srihari cannot continue for long as BRS MLA since he had already joined the Congress.

In a prelude to enlisting the support of Rajaiah for the BRS, KCR appointed him as in-charge of Station Ghanpur and asked him to get ready for the by-election and revive his contacts in the constituency.

He advised him to campaign for Sudheer Kumar, the party’s nominee for Warangal. He also told him that the party would reward him at an appropriate time.

(Edited by Shauqueen Mizaj)