New turn in the race for BJP ticket for Khammam LS

The race for the BJP ticket for the Khammam Lok Sabha seat has taken a new turn with former MLA Jalagam Venkat Rao joining the party with eyes on the Khammam seat.

Khammam: The race for the BJP ticket for the Khammam Lok Sabha seat has taken a new turn with former MLA Jalagam Venkat Rao joining the party with eyes on the Khammam seat.

It might be noted that until recently, an aspirant Vinod Rao Tandra was at the forefront in the ticket race and the party ranks rallied around him. For the last few months, he has been touring the Assembly segments under the parliament constituency organising party activities.

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Vinod Rao, a businessman turned politician was associated with the RSS for nearly one decade. For the past several years, he has been championing the cause of water conservation, empowering farmers, sustainable agriculture, organic farming through Eklavya Academy, KVK and others.If RSS has a say in deciding the BJP ticket for Khammam Lok Sabha, he might have a chance to contest for the seat on half of the party. But being novice in electoral politics might dampen his case, the party leaders in Khammam said.

On the other hand, two-time MLA Venkat Rao, coming from a political family has experience in electoral politics. He won the Sathupalli Assembly seat in 2004 elections on a Congress ticket and the Kothagudem seat in 2014 elections on a BRS (then TRS) ticket.He lost in 2018 on a BRS ticket and again in 2023 on a All India Forward Bloc ticket in the Kothagudem Assembly election. This political background might serve to back his claim for BJP ticket as he has a network of sympathisers and supporters in erstwhile Khammam district.

Venkat Rao joined the BJP on March 10 in the presence of party’s general secretary and Telangana in-charge Tarun Chugh. It was said that before joining the party he was reportedly given assurance on the party ticket. Whether the BJP high command gives priority to political experience or RSS backing would be clear soon as the party leaders here said that the ticket would be announced in a couple of days.