PJR’s Son Vishnuvardhan is BRS Standby

Hyderabad:In a surprise development, P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy, son of former minister P. Janardhan Reddy, on Saturday filed two sets of nomination papers on behalf of the BRS for the November 11 Jubilee Hills bypoll. He is seen as a standby candidate in case the nomination of the official BRS nominee, Maganti Sunitha Gopinath, is rejected for any reason.

If he becomes the party’s nominee, Vishnuvardhan Reddy will have time till October 22, the last date for withdrawal of nominations, to submit the official B Form. Meanwhile, BJP candidate Lankala Deepak Reddy also filed his papers for the bypoll.

Vishnuvardhan Reddy, who entered politics after his father’s death, was elected as a Congress MLA from Khairatabad with a 2.8-lakh vote majority in the bypoll and re-elected from Jubilee Hills in 2009. He lost in 2018 and joined the BRS in 2023.

In his affidavit, he declared ownership of two weapons — an NPB revolver worth Rs 50,000 and a 12-bore DBBL gun worth Rs 10,000 — inherited from family heirlooms. He listed Rs 1.94 lakh cash in hand and his wife, Lakshmi Sruthi, Rs 4.85 lakh. His total assets are worth Rs 9.33 crore, while his wife’s amount to Rs 7.79 crore. His liabilities stand at Rs 1.83 crore and hers at Rs 3.13 crore. He also mentioned purchasing a vehicle for Rs 90 lakh through a loan.

Vishnuvardhan Reddy runs a fuel retail outlet and passed SSC from St Alphonsa High School in 1996. Apart from a civil dispute, four cases were registered against him for staging protests.

BJP candidate Deepak Reddy also filed two sets of nominations. In his affidavit, he stated assets worth Rs 37.54 lakh and his wife’s at Rs 94.13 lakh. His total assets, including immovable property, bank accounts and investments, are valued at Rs 4.10 crore, while his wife’s amount to Rs 1.10 crore. His liabilities are Rs 8.14 lakh.

Deepak Reddy declared Rs 2.28 lakh cash in hand and his wife Rs 1.14 lakh. He did not reveal his wife’s name but said she is a partner in Swachh Andhra Cleaning Solutions, which handles water tank cleaning contracts in Andhra Pradesh. He studied up to Intermediate and contested from Jubilee Hills on a BJP ticket in 2023. He is considered close to Union minister G. Kishan Reddy.

So far, 94 candidates have filed nominations for the bypoll. A training session for election staff was held at Banjara Bhavan, where presiding and assistant presiding officers were briefed on poll duties.