Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy’s resignation from the party and Munugode assembly constituency has paved way for a bye-election in this seat from the Nalgonda district. Though there are several names doing the rounds as probable candidates, we take a look at the top contenders from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party.
57-year-old Prabhakar won the Munugode assembly election in 2014 on a TRS ticket with a huge margin of 38,055 votes. During his stint as MLA, he got two reservoirs sanctioned for the constituency. His efforts in the health and education sector are also remembered by the people of this constituency. While Prabhakar Reddy enjoys massive public goodwill and trust, there is a fight brewing within the TRS as lower-rung workers are working against him.
Though Prabhakar Reddy tops the preferred list of the high command, recently 30 ZPTCs, MPTCs, and sarpanches met TRS supremo CM KCR and requested him not to give the ticket to Prabhakar Reddy. It is learnt that energy minister G Jagdish Reddy has been trying to bridge the existing gap and he has been trying to bring the TRS cadre together in the constituency. The energy minister, however, denied any dissidence in Munugode while addressing the media after the meeting.
Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy (Image Courtesy: Facebook)
Prabhakar Reddy’s strengths include that he is financially strong and doesn’t need to depend on anyone to financially support him. He is known to be an approachable leader and has good support in all the seven mandals in the constituency. Despite losing in 2018 to Komatireddy Rajagopal, he has been on ground interacting with the people. His main weakness is the infighting within the TRS cadre and hence, he doesn’t enjoy the support of the second-rung leaders. He also lacks support from other big TRS leaders like Karne Prabhakar, Naraboyina Ravi and Karnati Vidyasagar, who are all lobbying for the same ticket.
Karne Prabhakar is a former MLA from Nalgonda. He belongs to the Balija (BC) caste. The 55-year-old briefly worked as a journalist before he became a businessman and later, a politician. He has been in the TRS since its inception in 2001, and has worked in various capacities. He became the government whip in the Telangana Legislative Council in 2019.
Karne Prabhakar (Image Courtesy: Facebook)
Karne Prabhakar is an influential orator and is known to be a close associate of CM KCR. He is known to be popular among the youth and known for his mobilisation skills. He has always maintained cordial relations with other leaders. Karne’s setback is that his influence is limited to only a few mandals out of the seven. He isn’t known to enjoy the same public support as Prabhakar Reddy. The TRS party’s internal feedback has revealed that despite Prabhakar being from the BC community, many in the community believe that he has not contributed enough to their empowerment.
The former MP from Bhongir lost to Komatireddy Venkat Reddy (Rajagopall’s brother) with a margin of around 5,200 votes in 2019. He had defeated Komatireddy Venkat Reddy in 2014. Boora belongs to the Goud (BC) community and is a doctor by profession. His strength is the Goud community, which has stood by him in the past. Other castes from the BC community also support Boora’s candidature.
Boora Narsaiah Goud (Image Courtesy: Facebook)
The former MP was instrumental in establishing AIIMS in Bibinagar as well as the development of the Yadadri temple and the industrial cluster in Nalgonda constituency.
He is known for being approachable and for his quick intervention whenever required. Boora represented the party in several national media debates during his tenure as an MP and is known to be a straightforward leader.
A file photo of Karnati Vidyasagar from when he was in the TDP (Courtesy: Facebook)
The senior TRS leader was earlier with the TDP and later joined the TRS. He belongs to the Padmashali (BC) community. He is believed to be a close aide of KT Rama Rao. The former MLC is known to be an active leader and enjoys a good influence in Nampally and Chandur mandals. Though in the good books of the party and the high command, Karnati doesn’t really enjoy mass support from the public, and his influence is limited to a few mandals.
Gutha Sukender Reddy (Image Courtesy: Facebook)
Telangana Legislative Council Chairman Gutha Sukender Reddy is seeking a ticket for himself or for his son Gutha Amit Reddy. 68-year-old Sukender Reddy, who is known to be a political heavyweight from Nalgonda, has served as a three-time MP, MLA, and also as an MLC from Nalgonda.
Palvai Shravanti Reddy is another name that is doing the rounds. Though Palvai Shravanti is a Congress leader, TNM has learnt that she is simultaneously in talks with the TRS and that if she isn’t given a ticket by the Congress, she will be the TRS’s choice for the Munugode bye-election. She contested as an independent candidate in 2014 after Congress denied her a ticket. Shravanti is the daughter of former Congress MP Palvai Govardhan Reddy, who died in 2017. In a recent audio clip that went viral, Shravanti could be heard expressing her anger at another Congress leader being considered for the Munugode bye-election. She dared the party to allot the ticket to someone else.
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Palvai Shravanti (Courtesy: Facebook)
While these are the main contenders for the Munugode ticket from the TRS, Naraboyina Ravi from the Mudiraj (BC) community is also said to be lobbying for the ticket. Ravi, a realtor, is financially secure and hopes that his money power will get him the ticket. It is expected that CM KCR will announce the name of the candidate in a public meeting in Nalgonda on August 20.
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