TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday has decided to field Ramalinga Reddy’s wife Sujatha Reddy for the upcoming by-elections in 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. With the seat falling vacant, the two families of Ramalinga Reddy and Muthyam Reddy made hectic lobbying for the Dubbaka ticket. One group lobbied for the ticket for Ramalinga Reddy’s son Satish Reddy, another group exerted pressure on the party leadership to consider the name of Cheruku Muthyam Reddy’s son Srinivas Reddy.
While two families of Ramalinga Reddy and Muthyam Reddy heavily lobbied for the ticket, it is learnt that KCR had conducted a survey to guage the mood of the people. He also consulted party leaders and took feedback from them. Most of the leaders were of the view that the ticket should be given to Ramalinga Reddy’s wife Sujatha Reddy.
There was also buzz among political circles that the TRS boss was mulling to give the Dubbaka ticket to Siddipet District collector Venkatram Reddy.
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. Dubbaka fell vacant after its former TRS MLA S Ramalinga Reddy died due to a heart attack. The political parties have already entered into the campaign mode. Finance Minister T Harish Rao has already made several visits to Dubbaka constituency. The TRS is making all efforts to retain the seat, while the Congress party has started conducting meetings with local leaders. Siddipet District Congress Committee president T Narsa Reddy was among the contenders for the ticket, while BJP could field M Raghunandana Rao for the seat. Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) led by Prof. Kodandaram had also announced that it would contest the elections.
