Hyderabad: Roads and Buildings minister Tummala Nageshwar Rao, who has been declared the TRS candidate by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for the forthcoming Palair Assembly bypoll, on Thursday said he will not resign either from the Cabinet nor from membership of the Legislative Council to which he was nominated.
He told the media here that the decision by the Chief Minister to finalise his candidature was taken due to political exigencies that prevail in Khammam district.
“As minister from the district, I explained to the CM the ground realities prevailing in Palair. After a thorough discussion on the selection of candidate, KCR finally named me. The schemes and projects we launched all these days will ensure my victory,” Mr Nageshwar Rao said.
Panchayati Raj minister K.T. Rama Rao, who has been named as the party in-charge for the Palair bypoll, held a prolonged meeting on Thursday with Mr Nageshwar Rao at his residence to fine-tune the party’s strategy.
He later told newsmen that when the party ordered a survey recently to know the pulse of the people in Palair, there was overwhelming response in favour of Mr Nageshwar Rao which forced the party chief to zero in on him.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Opposition Congress met Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwarlal and handed him a letter addressed to Chief Election Commissioner requesting not to allow the TRS’ annual plenary, scheduled to be held in Khammam on April 27, in view of the prevailing Model Code of Conduct for the Palair bypoll. They reminded that the Model Code applies to the entire district.
In their representation, the Congress leaders said that the TRS was known for misusing power in any election and was likely to misuse the official machinery in Palair if the ruling party’s plenary is allowed to be held there as scheduled.
In a related development, TRS representatives too met Mr Bhanwarlal and sought permission to hold the plenary as it was planned a few weeks ago. Mr Bhanwarlal said that he has forwarded both the representations to the Election Commission and was awaiting orders.
TD has second thoughts, cadre keen Nama contests
Having earlier contemplated extending support to the Congress candidate for the Palair Assembly bypoll, the Telugu Desam is now having second thoughts.
The option of extending support to the Congress candidate, thereby upholding the tradition of supporting the family member of the deceased MLA, was discussed in the TD workers’ meeting on Thursday. The rank and file of the TD in Palair is keen that the party fields former MP Nama Nageswara Rao as its candidate.
The cadre feels that the TD will give a tough fight if Mr Nageswara Rao contests, while the party seniors, who have been vanquished by the ruling TRS in the Warangal Lok Sabha byelection, GHMC, Warangal and Khammam corporation elections have their doubts, considering the slew of welfare schemes launched by the TRS government.
Meanwhile, Mr Nama Nageswara Rao said that the party’s strategy would be to defeat the ruling party in the election, come what may. “To this aim, we are exploring all possibilities,” he said, adding that extending support to any family member of Venkat Reddy who contests on a Congress ticket, is being considered seriously. “However, the party will take the final decision,” he said.
