Hyderabad: The efforts of TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in getting his daughter K Kavitha re-elected from Nizamabad went gone in vain.
BJP candidate D. Arvind, son of TRS Rajya Sabha member D. Srinivas, defeated Ms Kavitha by 80,895 votes. The election had hit the headlines not only because of Ms Kavitha’s presence but also due to the large number of turmeric and red jowar farmers filing nominations to protest low prices.
When the farmers announced that they would file their nominations, Mr Rao sensed a threat and began efforts to consolidate Ms Kavitha’s position. He even went to the residence of TD senior leader Mandava Venkateswara Rao, invited him to join the TRS and campaign for his daughter.
Interestingly, the TRS had won all the seven Assembly segments in the constituency. The party also has a strong cadre base, strategies and infrastructure. The TRS leadership had never suspected a threat from the BJP.
Reportedly, a few TRS MLAs were dissatisfied with the involvement of Kavitha in Nizamabad district issues for the last five years. The recent Cabinet expansion has also fuelled dissatisfaction among the MLAs as they did not expect the elevation of Balkonda MLA V. Prashanth Reddy.
After getting elected in 2014, Ms Kavitha spread her wings and was allegedly was not available for key people of Nizamabad. Rivals and other sections who are disappointed with the TRS government have taken this chance to defeat Ms Kavitha to send a strong message of dissent to Mr Rao.
