The Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) has named Gaini Niveditha, sister of deceased party MLA Lasya Nanditha, as the candidate for the byelection from Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly constituency.
Party chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao cleared the name of Ms. Niveditha, who is also the daughter of late MLA G. Sayanna. “We have discussed the candidature with the key leaders of the constituency and decided to field Ms. Niveditha from the constituency,” a statement from the party said on April 10.
Lasya Nanditha, who made her debut as an MLA in the Telangana Assembly in the election last year, was killed in a road accident on ORR in February this year. Her untimely death led to the byelection and the party appears to have preferred giving the ticket to a family member in anticipation of sympathy votes.
Lasya Nanditha had defeated BJP’s Sriganesh Narayanan in the Assembly elections with a comfortable majority. Interestingly, Mr. Sriganesh joined the Congress last month and has been named the candidate for the bypoll.