The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Friday, April 12 announced Marepalli Sudhir Kumar as its candidate for the Warangal Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana. BRS President and former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) approved the candidature of Sudhir Kumar, who is currently the Zilla Parishad Chairman of Hanamkonda district, after consultation with BRS leaders from the Warangal district.
Sudhir Kumar, who comes from the Madiga community of Scheduled Caste (SC) has been active in the Telangana movement and working with KCR, since 2001.
The BRS had earlier announced Dr Kadiyam Kavya as its candidate for Warangal, which is a reserved seat for Scheduled Castes.
However, Kadiam Kavya’s nomination led to the resignation of two tickets from the BRS party in Warangal district. Sitting MP Pasnuri Dayakar and former Wardhannapet MLA Aroori Ramesh quit as they were denied tickets and BRS gave preference to Kadiam Kavya, a debutante.
In a huge shock to the party, Kavya quit the party on March 28. Days later, she joined the ruling Congress party, along with her father and BRS MLA Kadiyam Srihari. The Congress named Kaviya as its candidate for the same seat in the May 13 election.
Kadiam Srihari, a prominent SC leader is a four-time MLA from Station Ghanpur in Warangal district, he joined the TRS (now BRS) in 2013. He was elected to Lok Sabha from Warangal on a TRS ticket in 2014. Srihari was also inducted into the Cabinet as Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister.