Tadikonda Rajaiah, the incumbent MLA of Station Ghanpur constituency in Jangaon district in Telangana, who faced sexual harassment allegations earlier this year was denied a ticket by the party. Rajaiah broke down while talking to party workers and others at the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) camp office in the constituency on Tuesday, August 22 for the upcoming assembly elections. The BRS chose to allot the ticket to Kadiyam Srihari, who has previously served as an MLA thrice from the constituency. In March this year, a female sarpanch of Janakipur Panchayat in Warangal accused Rajaiah of sexual harassment. She alleged that the MLA was mentally and sexually abusing female public representatives.
At the time too, the MLA broke down in front of his supporters and refuted the claims. Initially he demanded an apology from the sarpanch for damaging his reputation. Subsequently, Rajaiah went to the sarpanch's home and expressed regret in case he had accidentally hurt her and promised to work for the self respect of women till his last breath.
65-year-old T Rajaiah told his supporters that he hoped would be given a ticket and was prepared to run a strong campaign for the December 2023 assembly elections. The senior leader had even performed a puja at the Warangal Bhadrakali temple a few days ago. Upon meeting his supporters at the camp office, the leader collapsed to the ground and started crying. He expressed his gratitude for their faith and support to him. "I never crossed the line drawn by CM KCR. CM KCR's blessings will always be with me. I believe they will offer me a suitable position in future,” Rajaiah said.
Rajaiah, who was a Congress MLA in 2012, left the party in 2012 protesting the party’s stand against carving out the state of Telangana and joined the BRS (formerly TRS). Standing on the BRS ticket, he was elected as an MLA thrice in a row – 2012 bye-poll, 2014 and 2018. The senior politician briefly held the position of Deputy Chief Minister from January 2014 to January 2015.