The BJP in Telangana has fought a big battle with the ruling TRS in Dubbak Assembly bypoll held in November 2020.
Despite Dubbak falling under Undivided Medak district which is represented by none other than TRS president and Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao and finance minister T.Harish Rao and known to be the fortress of TRS since its inception in 2001, BJP’s candidate M.Raghunandan Rao emerged victorious although with a slender margin of nearly 1,500 votes.
Before Dubbak bypoll, BJP was represented by lone MLA in Telangana Assembly, who is Raja Singh from Goshamahal constituency.
With Raghunandan’s entry into Assembly, the BJP strength in the House increased to two.
Everyone expected Raghunandan Rao to wage a battle against TRS government in the Assembly. But Raghunandan Rao is not showing any aggression against KCR and TRS.
In fact, Raghunandan is conducting himself in the Assembly in such a manner that it pleases TRS MLAs and its boss KCR.
On Tuesday (today), there was an interesting exchange of friendly words between KCR and Raghunandan.
KCR said it’s a good sign that young leaders like Raghunandan are entering politics and Assembly in Telangana and wished that Raghunandan learns more in politics and attain higher positions in future.
In response, Raghunandan thanked KCR for his encouraging words and stated that he will put up more efforts as told by KCR and attain higher positions in future.
Raghunandan’s friendly behaviour with KCR and TRS is reportedly not going down well with Telangana BJP leadership.
They suspect whether Raghunandan remain with BJP or return to TRS from where he came.
Raghunandan comes from Velama community to which KCR belonged. He was also very close to KCR during Telangana statehood agitation days and KCR appointed him as TRS Medak district president. However, he was sacked from the party in 2013 on charges of maintaining ‘secret ties’ with TDP chief N.Chandrababu Naidu.