BRS leader Thummala Nageshwara Rao has been miffed over not getting a ticket from Palair assembly constituency.
Published Sep 03, 2023 | 10:07 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 03, 2023 | 10:09 PM
File photo of Thummala Nageswara Rao.
Former Telangana Minister and BRS leader Thummala Nageswara Rao is all set to join the Congress.
He is likely to join the party in the presence of senior leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on 6 September, as the latter is scheduled to leave for a five-day tour of Europe the next day.
Recently, TPCC president A Revanth Reddy drove to his residence in Hyderabad and formally invited him to join the party.
CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka called on him in Khammam district on Sunday, 3 September, and made a similar request to him. On the occasion, Thummala honoured Vikramarka by covering him with a shawl.
Another important Congress leader, former MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, also called on him at his residence in Khammam later in the day.
He later told reporters that he had invited Thummala to join the Congress. He expressed hope that the Congress would receive a positive response from him soon.
Thummala said he was thankful to Reddy for inviting him to join the Congress. “I will surely contest the elections as I am yet to fulfil my life’s ambition of completing the Sitarama Lift Irrigation Scheme,” he said.
Thummala has been seething ever since Telangana Chief Minister and BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao did not consider him for the Palair Assembly seat in the erstwhile Khammam district while releasing the list of candidates for 115 seats.
When he reached Khammam two days after the release of the list, his supporters, workers, and admirers welcomed him in a show of strength, organised to let KCR know what he was losing.
Addressing his supporters later, he said he would contest from Palair come what may, since he wanted to wash the feet of the people of the district with Godavari river waters, implying the completion of the construction the of Sitarama Lift Irrigation Scheme.
It had been very clear from the beginning that BRS would renominate all the sitting MLAs in the Assembly elections slated for year-end.
Yet, Thummala was confident that he would be fielded from Palair, which is now being represented by Kandala Upender Reddy.
The BRS sent Khammam MP Nama Nageswara Rao to persuade him not to take any extreme decision like leaving the party, but the former minister would not listen to him.
The BRS has already lost a powerful Reddy leader to the Congress from the district — former MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy.
The entry of Nageswara Rao is expected to strengthen the Congress in the Khammam district since he belongs to the powerful Kamma community, which forms a sizeable chunk of the population in other segments. He wields influence among his caste members in the Khammam district.
The other benefit for the Congress could be a positive influence on Andhra voters elsewhere in Telangana, particularly in the GHMC area, in which there are 24 Assembly segments. The Kamma community, after all, has its roots in Andhra Pradesh.
As the die is cast for the admission of Thummala, there is speculation that Sharmila, who was also keen on contesting from Palair, might be persuaded to leave the seat for him.
Talks between Sharmila and the Congress’ top honchos for the merger of her party — the YSRTP — are said to be in their “final stages”.
Though the details of the merger’s terms are not yet known, there has been speculation that they will be made public when the announcement of the merger is made.
Palair sitting MLA Upender Reddy won the seat in the 2018 Assembly elections on a Congress ticket by defeating Nageswara Rao and later joined the BRS.
After Nageswara Rao lost the election, KCR marginalised him, which led him to believe that he was not wanted anymore in the BRS.
When he began speaking of charting his own course a few months ago, KCR sent Finance Minister T Harish Rao to Nageswara Rao, they had a good rapport.
Harish Rao, an able troubleshooter for the BRS, counselled him at length against taking any drastic decision and to stay with the BRS.
After Harish Rao called on him, he began entertaining fresh hopes of getting the ticket for the Palair seat.
Thummala, contesting on a TDP ticket, lost the 2014 Assembly election from Khammam. He joined the BRS in September of the same year.
He was inducted into the Legislative Council and the state Cabinet. He contested and won a by-election from Palair in May 2015 and continued as a minister, but lost Palair to Congress nominee Kandala Upender Reddy in the 2018 election.
