For a leader long entangled in the ups and downs of this coveted seat, P Vishnuvardhan Reddy's moves hint at a fresh gamble in this high-profile by-election
Published Sep 16, 2025 | 9:33 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 16, 2025 | 9:33 AM
P Vishnuvardhan Reddy meets K Kavitha after pledging loyalty to KTR
Synopsis: BRS leader P Vishnuvardhan Reddy, who aspires to be the party’s candidate in the upcoming by-election in Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency, met K Kavitha hours after a public meeting with KT Rama Rao. For a leader long entangled in the ups and downs of this coveted seat, Reddy’s moves hint at a fresh gamble in this high-profile by-election in Hyderabad.
A morning pledge of loyalty, an afternoon dash to a rival power centre — the politics in the run-up to the Jubilee Hills by-election for the Telangana Assembly is developing a flair, and Monday, 15 September, was no exception.
BRS leader P Vishnuvardhan Reddy began his day shoulder-to-shoulder with party’s Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR), thundering about the “challenge” of the by-election and vowing to walk behind his “Ramanna” for decades to come.
Yet, within hours, he was spotted at former MLC K Kavitha’s Telangana Jagruthi office, sparking whispers of a ploy to secure his ticket. For a leader long entangled in the ups and downs of this coveted seat, Reddy’s moves hint at a fresh gamble in this high-profile by-election in Hyderabad.
Kavitha, daughter of BRS President K Chandrashekar Rao and sister of KTR, recently quit the party after she was suspended for “anti-party activities”.
On Monday morning, Reddy shared the stage with KTR at a public meeting in Jubilee Hills and urged BRS workers to treat the upcoming by-election as a “challenge”.
He reminded them that “each division has just as many slums as it does colonies”.
Moments later, his speech slipped into loyalty pledges. “I will always travel behind Ramanna (KTR),” he declared, adding that if “God gives him a promotion, I will also automatically get a promotion.”
He signed off by promising to meet again during the Dasara celebrations, even weaving in Bathukamma plans for the constituency.
However, before the day ended, Reddy was at Kavitha’s Telangana Jagruthi office, a visit confirmed by her team. Although the agenda remains unclear, the timing has sparked speculation.
With speculation rife about Kavitha’s Telangana Jagruthi also participating in the election, Reddy’s sudden outreach seems to have more intent than courtesy; it could be his latest bid for the ticket he has been chasing, and losing, since 2014.
Reddy won the Jubilee Hills constituency for the first time in 2009 on a Congress ticket under Kiran Kumar Reddy’s regime. However, since then, his grip has steadily weakened.
In 2014, he finished third behind TDP’s Maganti Gopinath and AIMIM’s Naveen Yadav, securing just 20.34 percent of the vote share. In 2018, he lost again to Gopinath, who crossed over to the TRS (now BRS), this time by 16,004 votes.
The setbacks deepened in 2023, when Congress sidelined him, picking Mohammed Azharuddin to bat for the party. Reddy, visibly stung, lashed out at the then-Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief A Revanth Reddy before crossing over to the BRS with the backing of former minister T Harish Rao and Kavitha.
“Congress runs in our blood,” he had said then, “but when they ignored me, Ramanna, Kavitha, and Harish reached out.”
The sudden demise of three-time MLA Gopinath this year has turned Jubilee Hills into one of Telangana’s most-watched battlegrounds. The Congress has started flooding the constituency with visits and inaugurations, keen to claw its way back.
The BRS, meanwhile, is seen as leaning towards Gopinath’s wife, Sunitha, hoping to ride on his goodwill.
For the Congress, the by-poll is a chance to reset — possibly by fielding a minority or Backward Class (BC) candidate, aligning with its social justice push.
Telangana Jagruthi, led by Kavitha, faces its own dilemma: a thin bench of leaders beyond her, but consistent pressure to champion BC representation.
As Jubilee Hills prepares for a bypoll shaped by loyalty pledges and sudden meetings, the question remains — whose move on this chessboard will checkmate the rest?
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
