Telangana Assembly polls: BRS in firefighting mode as flames of dissidence rise over non-allotment of tickets

Thummala has been seething ever since the party refused him the Palair seat. Nageswara Rao spent about an hour with Thummala and is understood to have told him to stay with the BRS as KCR was willing to compensate him for not fielding him from Palair.

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Pacifying Thummala

A day after the list of the BRS candidates was out, Thummala had convened a meeting of his supporters in Khammam on Tuesday, who felt that there was no future for them if he remained in the party.

The BRS ticket for Palair went to Kandala Upender Reddy, who had wrested the seat from Thummala as a Congress candidate in 2018 but later joined the BRS.

Thummala has been unhappy with the party leadership for sidelining him ever since his 2018 defeat. He once even contemplated quitting the party. But Finance Minister T Harish Rao convinced him of a better future in the BRS.

In fact, Harish Rao had lunch with Thummala at his residence, which pacified the latter and made him put on hold his plans to quit the BRS.

Thummala has been suspecting that he lost Paliar due to internal sabotage. He had, in fact, won a by-election to the segment in 2016 after the demise of Congress MLA Ramreddy Venkatareddy.

Thummala has been seeking the Palair seat ever since he lost to Upender Reddy, and was hoping that KCR would field him instead of the incumbent MLA.

When he did not get the seat as expected, he met his supporters, who reportedly asked him to look beyond the BRS. Thummala being a powerful Kamma leader, the BRS is not keen on losing him as the community has a major say in the constituency.

Also read: KCR has admitted defeat by contesting from 2 seats, says Revanth Reddy

At Lord KCR’s mercy

At Wyra in Khammam, sitting MLA Ramulu Naik is unhappy that he was dropped. He, however, did not make any critical comments against the party leadership.

Instead, he placed KCR on a higher pedestal than God and said his God would do him justice one day.

He said KCR would definitely look after him and that it was as certain as “the day following the night”.

KCR fielded former MLA Banoth Madanlal in Wyra. He was elected to the Assembly in 2014 on a YSRCP ticket and, in 2018, though he contested on a BRS ticket, lost to independent Ramulu Naik.

Meanwhile, the Director of Public Health G Srinivasa Rao’s dreams of making it to the Assembly lay shattered with KCR renominating Vanama Venkateswara Rao from Kothagudem. He had even prostrated himself before KCR in the hope of getting the party ticket, though his antics became an eyesore for Vanama.

Srinivasa Rao even took out a padayatra seeking Kothagudem’s development. He is also now at a crossroads.

Also read: Feeling ‘betrayed’ by BRS, Left parties may look to Congress

Trouble in Alair, Nakrekal

In the erstwhile Nalgonda district, former minister and Dalit leader Motkupalli Narasimhulu has decided to chart his own course after the party renominated Gongidi Sunitha Reddy in the Alair constituency.

Narasimhulu, who has represented Alair six times, called a meeting of his supporters on Thursday, 24 August, to discuss the way forward.

Alair was an SC-reserved seat till the 2009 elections and became a general seat in 2014, when Gongidi Sunitha Reddy won on a BRS ticket. She retained the seat In 2018, and KCR has renominated her.

At the SC-reserved Nakrekal in the erstwhile Nalgonda district, trouble is brewing for sitting BRS MLA Chirumarthy Lingaiah.

Vemula Veeresham, who is related to Energy Minister G Jagdish Reddy, suspects Lingaiah’s role in the party denying him an opportunity to contest from Nakrekal.

Veeresham, belonging to an SC community, married Jagdish Reddy’s cousin. A former Naxalite, Veeresham has enough reasons to suspect that Jagadish Reddy had pulled the strings to deny him the ticket.

Jagadish Reddy has never been on good terms with Veeresham after the latter had a serious dispute with his father-in-law, the minister’s paternal uncle.

Veeresham is now preparing to contest the election to prove his worth. He may join the Congress.

Also read: Eyes set on dominant castes, KCR fields 40 Reddys, 11 Velamas

Warangal woes

In Warangal district, BRS MLC and chairman of Rythu Samanvaya Samiti Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, rushed to Station Ghanpur to pacify sitting MLA T Rajaiah, who has not been renominated.

The meeting did not take place since the MLA was out of town. Rajeshwar Reddy told reporters that the chief minister would talk with Rajaiah in a couple of days.

As soon as the candidates’ list was announced on 21 August, Rajaiah broke down at the BR Ambedkar statue in the town. Unable to digest the fact that the ticket had gone to his archrival Kadiaym Srihari, he went to the statue with his supporters.

There has been a running feud between the two leaders over gaining supremacy in the constituency. Rajaiah has not made up his mind on his next course of action.

However, BRS MLA from Khanapur Ajmeera Rekha Naik has made up her mind. After the party decided to replace her with an NRI, Bhukya Johnson Rathod Naik, she decided to join the Congress, and vowed to show her might.

Also read: Raja Singh says he will contest from Goshamahal 

The issue in Medak

In the erstwhile Karimnagar district’s Vemulawada, sitting MLA Ch Ramesh was philosophical on life in a social media post on Monday, ahead of KCR announcing the list of candidates.

As he had feared, the chief minister dropped him due to the citizenship issue he had been facing. Ramesh is now looking to the BJP to accommodate him.

In yet another high-voltage drama, Malkajgiri MLA Mynampalli Hanumanth Rao lashed out at Finance Minister Harish Rao for the party denying a ticket to his son to contest from Medak.

Though KCR has fielded Hanumantha Rao from Malkajgiri, it did not satisfy him and he blamed Harish Rao for leaving out his son.

Now, the party has taken a serious view of his utterances and severe action might be initiated against him.

The BRS is reportedly considering MLC Shambhipur Raju, the party’s in-charge for Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency Marri Rajasekhar Reddy, or M Shoban Reddy, husband of GHMC deputy mayor Srilatha, to replace Hanumantha Rao.