hyderabad
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao filed his nomination papers for Gajwel Assembly constituency in Siddipet district and Kamareddy on Thursday. He contested for the Gajwel seat and won it both in 2014 and 2018 elections.
Mr. Rao opted to contest from Kamareddy in addition to Gajwel this time, stating that “the party leaders of Kamareddy wanted him to contest from there for better development of the constituency”.
The two constituencies are in the news this time not just because the Chief Minister is contesting but his former Cabinet colleague and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee Eatala Rajender is taking on Mr. Rao in Gajwel, while Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy is entering the fray in Kamareddy.
Both Mr. Rajender and Mr. Revanth Reddy are contesting from one more constituency each – their home constituencies of Huzurabad and Kodangal, respectively. On November 4, Mr. Rao participated in prayers and puja at Venkateshwara Swamy temple in Konaipally by keeping his nomination papers before the presiding deity before signing them, as has been his practice since 1984.
The BRS chief reached Gajwel around 11 a.m. and then at the Revenue Divisional Office, office of the Returning Officer, to complete the formalities. Mr. Rao greeted people who gathered at the helipad by going around the place in an open-top vehicle, after filing his nomination papers.
Mr. Rao won the 2014 election from Gajwel with a majority of 19,391 votes defeating V. Pratap Reddy of the Telugu Desam Party. In 2018, he defeated the same candidate who contested on the Congress ticket by 58,290 votes. Mr. Pratap Reddy joined TRS (BRS) in 2019 and is the Chairman of the Forest Development Corporation now.
The CM reached Kamareddy by noon and filed his papers at the RDO’s office around 2 p.m. along with sitting MLA Gampa Goverdhan and a few other local leaders.
