Aspirants vie to catch KTR’s eye

Warangal: Although the preparatory meeting was aimed at Lok Sabha elections, it’s also seen as the right platform for the city Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders, who are aspiring for the post of Mayor that has been up for grab ever since Nannapuneni Narender vacated it after he was elected as the MLA of Warangal East constituency.

Even though there are a lot of contenders for the post, the TRS leadership appears to be playing its cards close to its chest. In spite of this, party sources suggest that the post would be given to forward castes as both the MLAs of the city belong to backward classes.

“Right now, the TRS leadership is focusing on Lok Sabha elections and the suspense over the candidature of Mayor post is likely to continue further. With the party working president KT Rama Rao scheduled to address the cadres on Thursday (March 7), the aspirants are leaving no stone unturned to project their credentials for the Mayor post,” a senior TRS leader told The Hans India.  

Interestingly, all the aspirants have decent curriculum vitae (CV) as far as their political track record is concerned. Gunda Prakash Rao (26th Division), Vaddiraj Ganesh (27th Division), Boinapally Ranjith Rao (48th Division), Nagamalla Jhansi (56th Division) and the list goes on... This apart, Deputy Mayor Khaja Sirajuddin, who is now the in-charge Mayor, is also a strong contender for the post.

The four-time Corporator/Councillor Gunda Prakash Rao, who belongs Arya Vysya, a powerful community in Warangal, had worked as TRS State secretary twice. Embraced politics right from his student days, Prakash Rao held various positions during his stint with the Congress.

His followers say that Prakash Rao would have become a MLA long back but never things went in his favour. Caste-wise equation favours him as Vysyas are one of the highly populated communities in Warangal, they added.

Vaddiraj Ganesh who has the backing of Advocates and Telangana Brahmana Seva Sangha Samakya is also hopeful of getting the coveted post. He claims that he has been with the TRS since its inception and also actively participated in the separate State agitation. 

He worked as the president of Warangal Bar Association in 2011-12 besides holding various posts. During the agitation, he helped the Telangana protagonists who faced court cases, free of cost.

Of all the contenders vying for the post, Boinapally Ranjith Rao is the young and dynamic. It’s widely speculated that Ranjith Rao, who has close links with the TRS leadership is also in the top bracket for the post.

On the other hand, Nagamalla Jhansi who hitherto held various positions such as Mandal Praja Parishad president and ZPTC member etc, besides actively participating in the Telangana Movement along with her husband Suresh, said to have the backing of some MLAs.  

Khaja Sirajuddin (41st Division) followers argue that their leader has a strong case for the post. They point out the considerable chunk of Muslim minorities in Warangal.