Ahead of taking oath as the Chief Minister of Telangana on June 2, Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K. Chandrasekhar Rao resigned as Medak MP on Monday.
Mr. Rao was elected to the Lok Sabha from Medak and also from Gajwel Assembly constituency, but he has retained the Assembly seat after his election as the leader of the legislature party.
The Chief Minister in-waiting, who was in New Delhi for the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister, sent his resignation letter to the Secretary-General of Lok Sabha through party MP B. Vinod Kumar. The Secretary-General later confirmed the resignation by speaking to Mr. Rao over phone.
Sources said that four to five aspirants are in fray for Medak Parliamentary seat now that Mr. Rao has resigned. One of them is Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, who is the owner of a popular travel agency. He was a strong contender for TRS ticket from Dubbaka Assembly constituency in the district, which went to former MLA S. Ramalinga Reddy at the last minute.
The names of former MLC R. Satyanarayana, former IAS officer K.V. Ramanachary, Bangalore-based real estate businessman from Siddipet K. Praveen Reddy and former MLA Mynampalli Hanumantha Rao are also doing the rounds.
This is the third time in five victories as MP that Mr. Rao has resigned to his Lok Sabha membership. After he was first elected as MP from Karimnagar, Mr. Rao resigned in 2006 and won with a record 2.5 lakh majority. He again put in his papers in 2008 but his victory margin reduced drastically from the previous occasion in 2006.
Mr. Rao shifted his constituency from Karimnagar to Mahabubnagar in the 2009 general elections which he won with a slender margin. He chose Medak this time.
