The announcement of Bharat Rashtra Samithi candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Telangana by party president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on August 21 naturally triggered dissidence in various constituencies.
Though KCR was expecting this disgruntlement, he thought he would deal with such elements easily. But soon, he realised that it is easier said than done, as the dissidence is likely to pose threat to the prospects of the party.
It was evident from the way KCR had to hurriedly induct Patnam Mahender Reddy into the cabinet to douse the unrest in Tandur, where he had given the ticket to sitting MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy.
But it is not the case with many other constituencies and KCR had to go into the fire fighting mode by sending emissaries to quieten the dissidents.
In Khammam, sensing that former minister and strong Kamma leader Tummala Nageshwar Rao is all set to revolt against the party, KCR rushed local MP Nama Nageswara Rao to the former in Hyderabad to persuade him against taking any drastic decision.
Thummala has been seething ever since the party refused him the Palair seat. Nageswara Rao spent about an hour with Thummala and is understood to have told him to stay with the BRS as KCR was willing to compensate him for not fielding him from Palair.
Thummala has been unhappy with the party leadership for sidelining him ever since his 2018 defeat. He once even contemplated quitting the party. But Finance Minister T Harish Rao convinced him of a better future in the BRS.
At Wyra in Khammam, sitting MLA Ramulu Naik is unhappy that he was dropped. He, however, did not make any critical comments against the party leadership. But he is unlikely to cooperate with the party candidate Banoth Madanlal.
In the erstwhile Nalgonda district, former minister and Dalit leader Motkupalli Narasimhulu has decided to chart his own course after the party renominated Gongidi Sunitha Reddy in the Alair constituency.
Narasimhulu, who has represented Alair six times, called a meeting of his supporters to discuss the way forward. Alair was an SC-reserved seat till the 2009 elections and became a general seat in 2014, when Gongidi Sunitha Reddy won on a BRS ticket. She retained the seat In 2018, and KCR has renominated her.
At the SC-reserved Nakrekal in the erstwhile Nalgonda district, trouble is brewing for sitting BRS MLA Chirumarthy Lingaiah. Vemula Veeresham, who is related to Energy Minister G Jagdish Reddy, suspects Lingaiah’s role in the party denying him an opportunity to contest from Nakrekal.
Veeresham is now preparing to contest the election to prove his worth. He may join the Congress.
Similarly, T Rajaiah of Station Ghanpur is terribly upset and though he has not resigned from the BRS, he openly declared that he would not support the BRS candidate Kadiyam Srihari.
BRS MLA from Khanapur Ajmeera Rekha Naik has made up her mind. After the party decided to replace her with an NRI, Bhukya Johnson Rathod Naik, she decided to join the Congress, and vowed to show her might.
