The Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K. Chandrasekhar Rao is likely to delay the release of the first list of candidates for Assembly and Parliament elections as he is fine-tuning it by reopening discussions in some constituencies. He was supposed to release it on Monday, the beginning of an auspicious phase of calendar.
Mr. Rao is said to be in two minds about inducting his daughter Kavitha into electoral politics at this juncture and instead wants her to get some more grounding in the rough and tumble of public life.
She was tipped for Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat but, sources said, the candidate there in 2009 Ganesh Gupta may be retained. If he could not be accommodated from Nizamabad, Mr. Gupta will in all likelihood be fielded from Zaheerabad Parliamentary constituency.
The TRS president is also focussed on Secunderabad Parliament seat which Telangana joint action committee chairman M. Kodandaram refused to accept. Therefore, Mr. Rao turned to academic Ghanta Chakrapani but he too was unwilling to contest. The TRS chief was particular about this seat as he wanted to give it to a person with a profile of participating in the separate Telangana movement. In the absence of identifying such persons, he may go for someone who was financially strong and accessible to the business community as the constituency was business dominated. Sources said Mr. Rao had more or less closed doors on leaders other than sitting MLAs of other parties wanting to join TRS. He has made up his mind to give tickets to ten MLAs who have shifted loyalty from TDP and another independent. There was also the possibility of Congress MLAs T. Nandeeswar Goud and C. Pratap Reddy joining, the latter at the cost of his TRS rival from Shadnagar Y. Anjaiah Yadav.
Mr. Rao will have to pacify Mr. Yadav just as he had done in the case of all other aspirants for seats now sealed by TDP MLAs.
He has offered them MLC post and chairmanship of corporations. While looking for candidates, Mr. Rao has simultaneously sounded out leadership in districts to explore material for chairmanship of Zilla Parishads based on reservations.
