Nagarjunasagar bypoll: Announcement of TRS candidate likely to be delayed

Hyderabad: The announcement of the TRS candidate for the upcoming Nagarjunasagar Assembly byelection is likely to be delayed further.

TRS sources said that the party president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao was planning to announce the candidate only after the ongoing Budget session of the Legislature ends. The Budget session is expected to conclude March 26.

The Election Commission has announced bypoll schedule on March 16. The election notification will be issued on March 23 and the nomination process will begin the same day. The last date of filing the nomination is March 30.

Sources said Chandrashekar Rao wants to announce the candidate on March 26 and the nomination will be filed on March 27. Polling will be held on April 17 and counting of votes will take place on May 2.

Sources said the CM wants to commission a few more surveys by independent agencies in Nagarjunasagar before taking a final decision on the candidate.

With the TRS doing better in graduate MLC polls by leading in the first preference votes in both the seats — and one of the seats covers Nalgonda district of which Nagarjunasagar is part — Chandrashekar Rao wants to assess the pulse of the voters again in the changed political scenario.