Telangana chief minister and TRS supremo, K Chandrasekhar Rao, had warned the party aspirants against staking claim for the party ticket for the impending by-election to the Munugodu Assembly constituency.

The constituency fell vacant following the resignation of Congress MLA Komati Reddy Rajagopal Reddy in protest against his own party leaders. He also accused the state government and the TRS leadership of ignoring development in the state.

Though the Election Commission is yet to notify the vacancy and announce by-election, there is a massive race for the party ticket in the TRS. Even the opposition Congress and the BJP too are facing stiff competition from the aspirants.

TRS chief held a meeting with the party former leader, Venepalli Venkateswara Rao, in the light of impending by-election to the Munugodu. Venkateswara Rao was suspended from the party after the 2019 general elections. However, KCR had called him and held consultations on the by-election.

Meanwhile, KCR also held a brief discussion with Nalgonda MLA Kancharla Bhupal Reddy and his brother Krishna Reddy to take their views on the party prospects and the probable candidate. Krishna Reddy is one among the aspirants for the Munugodu seat in the by-election.

Chief Minister KCR is going slow on selection of the candidate. He is gathering first-hand information from the local leaders and trying to bring all the leaders together.

Interestingly, the ruling TRS had lost two by-elections held in the recent past. The party had lost Dubbaka in November 2020 and Huzurabad in November 2021 to BJP. It is now to be seen whether the TRS would retain this seat or lose it to the BJP as it had lost two seats in the past.