The All India Congress Committee has approved the candidature of former minister and senior leader K Jana Reddy as its candidate for the Nagarjuna Sagar bye-polls, which is being held following the demise of sitting legislator Nomula Narsimaiah of the TRS. Nagarjuna Sagar constituency will be going for polls on April 17. Jana Reddy, a seven-time MLA, lost to Narsimaiah in the 2018 elections by over 7,000 votes.

So far, only the candidature of Jana Reddy has been finalised. The BJP and TRS are yet to announce their candidates for the bye-polls. According to reports, the TRS is planning to field Narsimhaiah’s son Nomula Bhagath, while the BJP is likely to nominate Kadari Anjaiah Yadav. The other TRS ticket aspirants include Guravaiah Yadav K Anjaiah Yadav, Chinnapa Reddy, Kotireddy and Ranjith Reddy, according to reports.

In the Dubbaka election, the TRS gave a ticket to Solipeta Sujatha Reddy, wife of the deceased sitting MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy . However, the party could not capitalize on the sentiment and failed to win back the seat.

As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the notification would be issued on March 23 and the last date for filing of nominations for the Nagarjuna Sagar is March 30. The nominations would be scrutinized on March 31. The last date for candidature withdrawal is April 3. The counting of the votes is scheduled to take place on May 2, the ECI announced.

Jana Reddy, who remained undefeated in the constituency for 30 years until recently, is the Congress’s hope to gain footing in Telangana. Following the BJP winning the Dubbaka bye-election last year, which took the tally of the party to just two MLA seats in the state, the party claimed to be the opposition to the ruling TRS party in the state.