The BJP has already announced its candidates for the three MLC constituencies, while the Congress and BRS are still discussing its possible nominees.
Published Jan 31, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 31, 2025 | 9:00 AM
Elections in three MLC constituencies will be held on 27 February.
The ruling Congress and the Opposition BRS in Telangana have gone on overdrive with the Election Commission of India announcing the date for holding the MLC elections in three seats.
The election, scheduled for 27 February, will be the Congress’s first major test since it was elected to power in the November 2023 Assembly polls.
The MLC polls will be held in two teachers’ ( Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda and Medak Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar) and one graduates’ (Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar) constituencies.
Both the Congress and BRS will be looking for an upper hand in the MLC polls to boost their political image. The parties are now searching for winnable candidates to contest the polls.
In the present 40-member Legislative Council, the Congress has 13 members, while the BRS has 21, and the BJP, one. The AIMIM has two members while the TJS and PRTU have one each. One seat is held by an Independent.
T Jeevan Reddy (Graduates), Kura Raghottam Reddy of PRTU, and Alugubelli Narsi Reddy, an Independent (Teachers) are the outgoing members.
Even as the Congress and BJP are deliberating on candidates, the BJP announced its nominees much in advance. It has nominated Puli Sarottham Reddy for the Teachers’ Constituency comprising Warangal- Khammam-Nalgonda districts, Malka Komariah for the Teachers’ Constituency consisting of Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Adilabad, and Medak.
The saffron party’s candidate for the graduate constituency comprising Medak, Nizamabad- Adilabad-Karimnagar is industrialist C Anji Reddy.
Sarottham Reddy, hailing from Warangal, has over 30 years of experience as a school teacher and has been active in teachers’ associations. Malka Komaraiah, from Peddapally, is an educationist and the chairman of Pallavi Group of Institutions, with schools in Peddapally, Nirmal, and Hyderabad.
The BJP thus has dealt a pre-emptive blow on the other two parties. The party is keen on capitalising on the green shoots witnessed in the recent Lok Sabha elections in North Telangana.
As seven of the eighth Assembly seats that BJP won in the 2023 elections are in North Telangana, it hopes to win the two seats — one graduates and one of the two teachers. In South Telangana, it wants to make a sincere effort to win the remaining teacher’s seat.
With the BJP already ahead with its candidates delving deep into campaigning, the other two parties are now scurrying to finalise their nominees and kick off the campaign as time is very much limited. They want to make the best use of the MLC elections to consolidate their presence in rural Telangana, which matters a lot in the general elections.
As far as the Congress is concerned, it is taking the election seriously as the three constituencies are spread over seven of the 10 erstwhile districts in the state.
Sitting MLC T Jeevan Reddy, who is representing Karimnagar graduates constituency, is keen on getting elected to the council under MLAs’ quota for which elections would be held in a while.
As he is not keen on contesting from the constituency that he is representing now, others have begun exerting pressure on the party for the allotment of party tickets.
The aspirants include educationist Musku Ramana Reddy, Narender Reddy of Allphores Educational Institutions, retired deputy superintendent of police M Gangadhar, and Congress leaders Velichala Rajender and A Praveen Reddy.
Vem Narender Reddy, who is now an advisor to the chief minister, has also thrown his hat in the ring.
For the remaining two teachers’ constituencies, it is not clear who the Congress wants to field. Its ally CPI might bring pressure for the allotment of one of the two seats.
For the Karimnagar seat, Telangana PRTU president G Harshavardhan Reddy is hopeful of getting the Congress’s nod.
The Congress is understood to have commissioned surveys on who would be the right candidate for the three seats. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy might likely confer with other party leaders soon to finalise the list of probables, which would be sent to the AICC for approval.
As far as the BRS is concerned, the confabulations are understood to be going on in selecting the candidates.
Party supremo K Chandrashekar Rao reportedly discussed potential candidates with working president KT Rama Rao and party senior leader T Harish Rao.
Among the aspirants for the BRS’s support for graduates’ constituency include Karimnagar former mayor Ravinder Singh, and Telangana Recognised School Managements Association (TRSMA) former president Y Shekhar Rao.
The party is understood to have not yet finalised candidates for the remaining two teachers’ seats, as yet.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
