Lobbying intensifies for BJP MP ticket from Adilabad

Present MP Soyam Bapu Rao, former MP Ramesh Rathod, Adivasi leader Kotnaka Vijay and Lambada leader Rajesh Babu are said to be in the race for the ticket

Adilabad: At least four candidates are in the fray to get the ticket of the Bharatiya Janata Party from the Adilabad Parliament segment.

Present MP Soyam Bapu Rao, former MP Ramesh Rathod, Adivasi leader Kotnaka Vijay and Lambada leader Rajesh Babu are said to be in the race for the ticket. Rao, a front-runner, is confident of securing it again, claiming that his performance will help him win. He also claims the support of Adivasis who form a major portion of votes.

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Rao’s candidature, however, is said to be opposed by certain MLAs. It is learnt that he is not coordinating with local legislators while taking up developmental activities. As a result, a section of MLAs had formed a group against his nomination. It has to be seen whether the party would address the differences between the MP and the legislators ahead of the polls.

Meanwhile, senior leader of the party from Lambada community, Rathod says he has the support of certain top leaders. He had ended up third when he contested on a BJP ticket from Khanapur in the recent Assembly polls. He had won from Adilabad in 2009 on a Congress ticket.

Similarly, young Adivasi leader Kotnaka Vijay is making efforts to bag the ticket. He had finished third in Asifabad in the Assembly polls. Another lambada leader Rajesh Babu and a police official working with the 13th Telangana State Special Police Battalion at Gudipet village in Hajipur mandal have also pinned hopes on getting the ticket. The police official claims that he was approached by the party.

Incidentally, the party’s share of votes has gone from 12 percent in polls to the Telangana Assembly in 2018 to 36 percent in the recent polls. Except for in Asifabad, BJP candidates secured over 30 percent of votes in six constituencies. The party’s candidates won from four segments out of the total seven Assembly constituencies that form the Adilabad Parliament segment.