Here’s the real shocker. Telangana CM and TRS supremo KCR will not contest from his home turf of Gajwel in the next assembly constituency. If highly placed sources are to be believed, KCR is going to vacate Gajwel and give it to his once-arch rival and present associate Vanteru Pratap Reddy. KCR will contest from some other constituency in 2023.

According to highly placed sources, KCR recently held a meeting in his farmhouse with MLC Yadav Reddy, Pratap Reddy, district collector and some other close confidants. During the course of the meeting, he is said to have said that he would not contest from Gajwel in 2023 and that Pratap Reddy would be the party candidate. He said he would contest from some other constituency.

Pratap Reddy, who originally belonged to the Congress and fought twice (in 2014 and 2018) against KCR. Though he gave a tough fight to KCR, the latter invited him into the TRS and made the chairperson of the Forest Development Corporation. Currently, Reddy is incharge of the constituency on behalf of KCR. Telangana CM is said to have told MLC Yadav Reddy to cooperate with Pratap Reddy and ensure his victory.

Those in the know say that KCR might shift either to Siddipet or Dubbak. Harish Rao, a KCR loyalist, might be asked to shift to another constituency. It is likely that either KCR or Harish could contest from Dubbak to deny a victory to Raghunandan of the BJP.