CM KCR stuns rivals with jumbo candidate list

This move is expected to have a cascading effect on the political situation in the entire region, helping the BRS including in the erstwhile Nizamabad, Adilabad, Medak and even Karimnagar districts.

Hyderabad: Drawing first blood in the impending battle for the State Assembly, Bharat Rashtra Samithi president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Monday took Opposition parties by surprise by announcing candidates for all except four of the 119 constituencies in the State.

Exuding confidence that the party would receive a massive mandate winning 95 to 105 seats in the Assembly elections expected to be held in December, Chandrashekhar Rao with Monday’s list dealt multiple blows to rivals of the BRS, first by repeating his 2018 surprise move, when he announced 105 candidates about six months in advance, and then, by sticking to his earlier statement that he would continue with most of the sitting MLAs.

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That there were just about seven changes to the jumbo list will now force rivals, who were expecting major changes in the list so that they could exploit disgruntlement in the BRS, to think of new strategies.

Another surprise was when the Chief Minister announced that he would be contesting from two seats, one from his current constituency of Gajwel, and second, from Kamareddy, where he cited requests for his candidature from the public, including from ministers and even sitting MLA Gampa Goverdhan.

This move is expected to have a cascading effect on the political situation in the entire region, helping the BRS including in the erstwhile Nizamabad, Adilabad, Medak and even Karimnagar districts.

Starting off the much awaited press conference stating that there were seven changes, he said there would be new candidates for Asifabad, Boath, Khanapur, Korutla, Vemulawada, Wyra and Uppal.

Some of these changes were because some good leaders could not be re-nominated because of various reasons, he said, citing the example of Vemulawada MLA, Chennamaneni Ramesh, whose citizenship was challenged before the court. In view of the issue, the party had preferred to opt for a new candidate.

Korutla MLA K Vidyasagar Rao had requested the party for nominating his son in his place because of his health issues. “It is more a family related issue and the request was considered on health grounds cited by the sitting MLA,” the Chief Minister said.

Some of the notable changes include the candidature of Mulugu Zilla Parishad chairperson Bade Nagajyothi, who is the daughter of slain Naxalite Bade Prabhakar, while in Secunderabad Cantonment, it will be Lasya Nanditha, the daughter of sitting MLA, the late G Sayanna, who passed away in February.

In Huzurabad, a constituency the BRS will be trying to wrest back from the BJP, MLC Padi Kaushik Reddy was named, while in Dubbaka, another BJP-held constituency, sitting MP Kotha Prabhakar Reddy is the candidate.

The names of candidates for four assembly constituencies – Narsapur, Jangaon, Goshamahal and Nampally – were put on hold, with a party committee to sit again after four or five days to finalise the candidates, Chandrashekhar Rao said.

In Bhupalpally, former Speaker S Madhusudhana Chary had assured the party that he would support G Venkataramana Reddy while in Tandur, former Minister Patnam Mahender Reddy had agreed to extend all support to Pilot Rohit Reddy, he said.

In case of any issues on the list already announced, he said a three member committee led by K Keshav Rao would sit again and iron out the issues. The list was finalized based on different survey reports after thorough exercises made at different levels, he said.

Stating that political life was too long and not limited to the post of an MLA, the Chief Minister said multiple opportunities would be waiting for those who could not make to the list.