Parties walk a tightrope to zero in on candidates

Rangareddy: Amid growing political fever in the Chevella Lok Sabha segment, parties like the Congress and BJP are said to have sealed covers with names of their respective candidates, while the BRS leadership is still in a quandary over choosing right candidate to join the fray.

While former MP Konda Visheshwar Reddy is a front runner for ticket from the BJP, the Congress may field Suneetha Mahender Reddy as party face in the upcoming elections. Speculations are that the BJP has made up its mind and plans to field Visheshwar Reddy, who has already served a term under the BRS rule after getting elected for first time

in 2014 elections. He had joined the Congress in 2018 before migrating to the saffron party in July 2022. As there is no other suitable candidate with such a strong political presence and financial background, the BJP has no other option but to place Konda as party’s face in the poll battle.

The Congress, the party with a new blood, is taking all aspects into consideration before picking up a right candidate to field and win the seat. The name of Patnam Suneetha Mahender Reddy is doing rounds as a front runner for ticket. She is the chairperson of Vikarabad

zilla parishad, who along with her husband Mahender Reddy, recently migrated to the Congress from the BRS.

The pink party is walking tightrope over choosing a candidate to take on both the Congress and BJP to retain the seat it won the first time in 2014 by fielding Visheshwar Reddy. In 2018 elections, the party had retained the seat by picking Dr G Ranjith Reddy after Konda joined the Congress.

After losing power in the recent Assembly elections and witnessing migration of key leaders into Congress fold, the pink party is once again weighing potentiality of leaders seeking ticket to contest the Chevella seat. Political analysts say the BRS is yet to recover from the recent blow. The party is well aware that the Congress is fully charged after gaining power, while the BJP enjoys full-fledge support of the Centre. In

these circumstances the BRS leadership is seeking not to repeat mistake of repeating the candidates in the Assembly elections.