The high-profile battle for the Huzurabad by-election in Telangana has turned interesting with the Congress party reportedly finalising the candidature of the firebrand former minister Konda Surekha.
According to sources, the Pradesh Congress Committee executive committee which met at Gandhi Bhavan on Saturday considered names of various candidates for the Huzurabad by-polls and finally zeroed in on Konda Surekha.
The PCC will forward the name of Surekha to the high command which will make the announcement officially shortly, sources said.
Former minister Eatala Rajender, whose resignation from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the assembly membership necessitated the by-election, will be the candidate on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party, though it is yet to officially announce the name.
On the other hand, the TRS officially announced the name of Gellu Srinivas Yadav, the president of TRS Vidyarthi, the student wing of the party, for the by-election.
He has already commenced his campaign, along with ministers T Harish Rao and Gangula Kamalakar.
Essentially it is going to be an interesting battle among the Backward Classes, as all the three candidates belong to the BC community.
While Srinivas Yadav is from Yadava (shepherd) community, Rajender is a Mudiraj (fishermen) and Surekha belongs to Padmashali (weavers) community.
The Congress is said to have chosen Surekha because of the twin advantage. She originally belongs to Parkal assembly constituency in Warangal, which is quite adjacent to Huzurabad; and hence, she wields considerable influence.
Secondly, her husband Konda Murali is from Munnuru Kapu community, which is also predominant in Huzurabad. So, the Congress hopes to cash in on this advantage. Moreover, Surekha is also financially a strong candidate who can match up to the TRS and the BJP.
So, a tough battle is ahead in Huzurabad!
