Telangana: Lobbying for BJP ticket from Zaheerabad intensifies

Ale Bhaskar, son of Ale Narendra, who won from Medak in 1999 and 2004, is in the fray for the ticket.

Sangareddy: Sons of two former Medak MPs are now lobbying for the Zaheerabad Lok Sabha ticket from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

M Jaipal Reddy, son of four-time Medak MP M Baga Reddy, who won from the seat in 1989, 1991, 1996, and 1998, and Ale Bhaskar, son of Ale Narendra, who won from Medak in 1999 and 2004, are the ones who are in the fray for the ticket. While Baga Reddy had won the four elections on a Congress ticket, Narendra contested on a BJP ticket in 1999 and a BRS ticket in 2004. Incidentally, Narendra had defeated Baga Reddy in the 1999 elections, which was the only defeat for Baga Reddy in his five decades of political career.

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While Jaipal Reddy is arguing that he was well-known in the Zaheerabad area, Bhaskar, who is the current BC Morcha State president, believes the BC vote bank will favour him. However, the most important argument both of them raise is the image of their respective fathers.

Since the saffron party is pinning hopes on a few Lok Sabha seats in the forthcoming elections, party national secretary Sunil Bansal, during a recent meeting with party leaders, is learned to have said that Zaheerabad is one among them. While the Congress had won four assembly constituencies out of seven under the Zaheerabad Lok Sabha Constituency, the BRS and BJP had won two and one assembly segments respectively. Since the BJP won the Kamareddy constituency under the Zaheerabad seat, the saffron party is in an upbeat mood. Apart from Jaipal Reddy and Ale Bhaskar, Medapati Prakash Reddy from Bodhan Constituency and Banala Lakshma Reddy, who contested in the last elections but lost, were also among those aspiring for the BJP ticket.