Hyderabad: Owners of major educational groups running a chain of professional and other colleges are all set to try their luck in the 2014 general elections.
They have approached the Congress, TD, YSRC and the TRS for tickets.
In 2009, Avanthi Group’s Srinivasa Rao, and the Maheshwara Group’s Alleti Maheshwar Reddy had contested and won elections.
This has prompted more college owners to vie for tickets. They are banking on their financial muscle and offering huge donations to political parties.
Malla Reddy group chairman C. Malla Reddy has been trying to get the nomination for the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat from the TD.
The group has a student strength of 40,000 in colleges and 10,000 in schools. It also owns two medical colleges. Malla Reddy said TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu has assured him the seat and asked him to get ready for elections.
St Mary’s group chairman K.V.K. Rao is eyeing the Guntur and Narasaraopeta Lok Sabha seats. He has approached the TD and YSRC.
Holy Mary group chairman Varaprasada Reddy is trying for the Narsaraopeta LS seat or Sathenapalli Assembly seat from the YSRC.
Annamacharya group chairman Gangi Reddy is keen to contest the Rajampeta Assembly seat from the YSRC. Nova Group owner Krishna Rao is trying for the Nuzvid Assembly seat, while Indur Group owner Pradeep Reddy is eyeing Bhongir Assembly seat.
Though many more owners of colleges are in the fray, they are yet to decide which party to join and are waiting for a clearer picture to emerge in their respective constituencies.
It has become a tradition in the State for college owners to capture political power after consolidating their position in the education sector.
Coming with the reputation of being an educationist offering higher education opportunities to students makes it easier to reach out to voters and get their support.
