Days after successfully being elected to the Lok Sabha from Nalgonda, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday submitted his resignation as an MLA from Huzurnagar, in view of his recent victory. Uttam met with Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, who accepted the resignation.
A notification was issued by Assembly Secretary V Narasimha Charyulu, declaring the Huzurnagar assembly seat as vacant. The Election Commission of India (ECI) will now take a call on issuing a notification, calling for a bye-poll to the vacant seat.
While the BJP bagged 4 seats during the Lok Sabha polls in Telangana, the Congress bagged 3, while the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) managed to win 9, out of the total 17 seats in the state. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) managed to retain its lone seat in the state with Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi coming back to power with a comfortable margin.
The Congress had only won 19 out of the 119 seats in the Legislative Assembly in the polls in December last year. The result of the Lok Sabha polls came as a boost as ever since the Assembly elections, many senior leaders including sitting MLAs had defected to the ruling TRS in the state, leaving the Congress fighting a losing battle.
Born in 1962, Uttam is a former fighter pilot who first became an MLA in 1999 on a Congress ticket from Kodad constituency, before shifting his base to neighbouring Huzurnagar constituency. He also served as a state minister in former CM Kiran Kumar Reddy's cabinet.
For the bye-poll, while the TRS is likely to nominate Saidi Reddy, a Canadian NRI who had earlier contested against Uttam Kumar for the Huzurnagar election, the TPCC chief may lobby within the party for his wife, Padmavathi Reddy, who is an ex-MLA from Kodad, who had lost in the elections held in December.