Party leaders cutting across political parties are taking the Dubbaka byelections quite prestigiously.
After KCR decided to field Sujatha Reddy, wife of Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy, Cheruku Srinivas Reddy quit the TRS and joined the Congress Party in the presence of TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy at Gandhi Bhavan. While Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had announced the candidature of Solipeta Sujatha, the Congress had decided to field Cheruku Srinivas Reddy, son of four-time MLA and former Minister late Cheruku Muthyam Reddy.
On Wednesday, BJP president Bandi Sanjay suspended Dubbaka party leader Kamalakar Reddy for violating the party’s discipline. The state BJP has decided to field Raghunandan Rao for the Dubbaka seat.
A miffed Kamalakar Reddy criticized the party for announcing the candidature of Raghunandan Rao president stating that he is not the right candidate to contest the elections. Political observers believe that suspending a party leader ahead of the bypolls will not bode well for the BJP. Political analysts opined that internal bickering and infighting should be discussed within the party, but suspending Kamalakar Reddy at this juncture will play a significant impact for the BJP.
Meanwhile, Dubbaka BJP candidate Raghunandan Rao on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India and Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the Telangana government is snooping on him.
In the complaint, Raghunandan Rao alleged that the KCR government was misusing the Telangana police by resorting to phone tapping. He appealed to the central government to initiate a probe into the phone tapping issue. Further, the BJP leader alleged that the police were resorting to phone tapping at the behest of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and finance minister Harish Rao. The TRS is making all efforts to retain the seat, while the Congress party has started conducting meetings with local leaders. Harish Rao has already made several visits to Dubbaka constituency.
The Election Commission of India has decided to conduct the byelections for Dubbaka – the lone vacant Assembly seat in Telangana- on November 3.
Dubbaka fell vacant after its former TRS MLA S Ramalinga Reddy died due to a heart attack. The notification for the Dubbaka byelections will be released on October 9, while nominations should be filed on or before October 16. Nomination withdrawal will be accepted on or before October 19. The polling for Dubbaka will be held on November 3 and the counting of votes will take place on November 10.
