With the talk of a by-poll to the Nalgonda Parliament constituency doing rounds, the Congress wants to prove its point fielding the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy.
Sources in the party said Mr. Reddy too was willing to take on the challenge if at all the Nalgonda MP, Gutta Sukhender Reddy resigns as per the reported wishes of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhara Rao.
“Congress will consider it as an opportunity to showcase its strength capitalising the anti-establishment feeling among the masses. A win will surely put the ruling party in the defence,” a senior leader revealed to The Hindu .
“It will be the first step for capturing power in 2019.”
It is being widely believed, though no there is no official communication from the TRS or the Government, that Mr. Sukhender Reddy is being asked the resign and seek re-election to throw a challenge to the opposition parties and gain political mileage before the 2019 general elections.
The TRS apparently also wants to save Mr. Sukhender Reddy from the ignominy of losing his seat due to anti-defection law if at all Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan takes a decision on the disqualification complaint pending with her.
The Congress feels that erstwhile Nalgonda district is its bastion as all its tall leaders including Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy (Huzurnagar), CLP leader, K. Jana Reddy (Nagarjuna Sagar) and Komatireddy Venkata Reddy (Nalgonda) won with huge margins despite TRS coming to power in the 2014 elections. Mr. Uttam’s wife Padmavathi is also a MLA from Kodad constituency in the district.
In fact, Mr. Sukhender Reddy won with handsome margin as the Congress candidate defeating the present TRS MLC, Palla Rajeshwar Reddy but shifted his loyalties to the ruling TRS later. Congress continues to be a strong force in the combined Nalgonda district despite TRS attracting some of its leaders. A senior leader said Mr. Uttam believes this was a challenge he should take on being the TPCC chief and also given Congress’s strength in the district.
Mr. Uttam is confident that the CPI, which is another strong party in Nalgonda from ages will support him.
