BJP likely to announce its candidates for Assembly polls in erstwhile Warangal after Sept 17
Sources say the BJP might not reveal its nominees till September 17, owing to the shortage of strong contenders for the party tickets.
Warangal: With the assembly elections fast approaching, the ruling BRS party has shot past its opponents in the election campaign by declaring its candidates for 11 of the 12 constituencies in the erstwhile Warangal district.
In contrast, the opposition parties, including the Congress and BJP, are still in the process of finalising their contenders. While the Congress initiated the candidate selection process by accepting applications from August 18 to 25, the BJP despite its vocal stance on the elections, is yet to finalise its candidates.
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Sources say the BJP might not reveal its nominees till September 17, owing to the shortage of strong contenders for the party tickets.
The party leadership is reportedly facing challenges in identifying candidates, who can put up a spirited fight against the sitting MLAs who are from BRS except in Mulugu.
To some extent, the BJP has some presence in Warangal West, Warangal East, Parkal, Bhupalpally, and Mahabubabad constituencies. In the last elections, although BJP candidates were unsuccessful at elections, they managed to secure some votes.
However, the competition for party tickets in some constituencies is high. Notably, in the West constituency, potential candidates include the party’s state spokesperson Anugula Rakesh Reddy, former MLA Marthineni Dharma Rao and Hanamkonda district president Rao Padma. In the general elections, BJP candidate Dharma Rao stood in third place with just 4.19 per cent of polled votes.
For the East constituency, contenders include Errabelli Pradeep Rao, Ganta Ravi Kumar, former MLA Vannala Venkataramana, and Kusuma Satish, who stood in third place in the 2018 election with 3.04 per cent votes. Bhupalpally, on the other hand, sees Chandupatla Keerthi Reddy as the prominent candidate vying for the party’s ticket. She secured fourth place in the last general elections by 7.54 per cent vote share.
From Station Ghanpur, former Minister Dr Gunde Vijayarama Rao, from Narsampet, former MLA Revuri Prakash Reddy, and from Wardhannapet, former MLA Kondeti Sridhar are the solitary aspirants seeking tickets from the BJP. Meanwhile, Jangaon witnesses enthusiastic contenders, including Arutla Dashamantha Reddy, who actively participated in the Telangana movement, as well as Mukkera Tirupathi Reddy, Bejati Beerappa, and G Premalatha Reddy. In the Mulugu constituency, Azmeera Krishna and Bhukya Jawaharlal are expecting party tickets amidst speculations that Azmeera Prahlad, son of former Minister Chandulal, who is with the BRS, might contest from Mulugu after joining the BJP.
Parkal constituency sees notable candidates such as former president of IMA’s Telangana chapter, Dr P Kali Prasad Rao, who joined the BJP on August 27, alongside Dr Pesaru Vijayachander Reddy, who secured fourth place with a mere 1.4 per cent, and former MLA Moluguri Bikshapathi, all vying for the party’s ticket. Meanwhile, Jatothu Hussian Naik seeks the ticket from the Mahabubabad constituency, while no prominent leaders have emerged as contenders from Dornakal.
