Telangana Assembly polls: Spotlight on Gajwel, where BJP’s Eatala Rajender has vowed to defeat Chief Minister KCR

He said he takes strong objection to the behaviour of the BRS leaders attempting to “influence the BJP cadre”.

Rajender exuded confidence that this year, he would be able to repeat in Gajwel his winning performance in the Huzurabad Assembly constituency bypoll in 2021.

Related: Eatala Rajender says will contest from  Huzurabad and KCR’s Gajwel

Incidentally, both Rao and Rajender have decided to contest from two Assembly constituencies.

While Rao is contesting from the Gajwel and Kamareddy Assembly constituencies, Rajender has thrown his hat in the ring from Gajwel and Huzurabad.

However, the focus will be on Gajwel, where Rajender has proclaimed that he would defeat the chief minister at any cost.

Also read: BRS manifesto a copy of our guarantees, says Congress

The advantages

What might work in favour of Rajender, who is from the Backward Classes (BC), is that a majority of BRS activists have continued to maintain an association with him: He had been one of the key members of the party since its inception.

Also, most communities belonging to the BC segment — especially Yadavs, Gouds, and Mudhirajs — are expected to support Rajender this time. He belongs to the Mudhiraj community.

The factors that might go in favour of Rao are the development works undertaken by him in the constituency since the formation of Telangana in 2014.

Also, the welfare schemes — especially Rythu Bandhu, Shaadi Mubarak, and Kalyana Lakshmi — are expected to work in favour of the chief minister.

Also read: Pawan Kalyan discusses Telangana seat-sharing with Amit Shah

The electoral equations

Political analysts feel that the contest would mainly be between the BRS’ Rao and the BJP’s Rajender, though the Congress is contemplating fielding Narsa Reddy.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, Rao won from the Gajwel constituency by defeating arch-rival and Congress candidate V Pratap Reddy by a margin of 50,000 votes.

A few months after the 2018 elections, Reddy joined the BRS and is currently the chairman of Telangana State Forest Development Corporation.

Meanwhile, following his differences with the BRS high command in 2021, Rajender, who was then the health minister, was shunted out of the party.

Rajender then joined the BJP after resigning from the post of MLA and contested the Huzurabad bypoll, defeating BRS candidate Gellu Srinivas Yadav by more than 23,000 votes.