At a time when there were reports that the political future of Padi Kaushik Reddy, the Congress leader who defected to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti ahead of the by-elections to Huzurabad assembly seat, is caught in uncertainty, party sources indicated that Kaushik is, in fact, likely to get a double bonanza.
Soon after Kaushik Reddy joined the TRS, party president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao nominated him to the state legislative council under Governor’s quota.
But it was kept in abeyance by Governor Tamilisai Soundarrajan on the pretext that Kaushik doesn’t fit under social service category.
The TRS chief deputed Kaushik to Huzurabad hoping that he would be able to turn the tide towards the party in the by-elections, since he is very influential in the constituency.
But Kaushik failed to make any impact on the electorate and the BJP won the seat with a big margin.
Subsequently, there were reports that KCR might dump Kaushik Reddy for his inability to secure good number of votes for the TRS and would not even pursue his MLC nomination with the Governor. It was learnt KCR might ask him to fight the next elections in Huzurabad in 2023.
But according to latest reports from the party, KCR has decided to keep up his word given to Kaushik Reddy, rather than ignoring him, because he feels he is the only leader from Huzurabad who can checkmate former health minister Eatala Rajender, who won the by-elections on the BJP ticket.
These reports said KCR has now decided to withdraw Kaushik’s nomination as MLC from Governor’s quota and instead send him to the legislative council under MLAs’ quota for which the nomination process has already begun. It will be a unanimous election for him, as there is no competition from the other parties.
Later, KCR wants to induct Kaushik Reddy in the state cabinet in the vacancy that has arisen due to the resignation of Rajender. So, it will be a double bonanza for him.
If Kaushik becomes a minister, he can sit in the state assembly and counter Rajender on every issue.
“This will also help KCR build up an alternative leadership in Huzurabad, because Kaushik is more powerful than Gellu Srinivas Yadav,” sources said.
