With the Telangana Assembly elections fast approaching, amid buzz that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is expected to release its first list of candidates soon, TNM has learned that most sitting MLAs of the ruling party are likely to contest again. As the BRS hopes to return to power for a third time, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to give tickets to most of the sitting MLAs, a source close to the party told TNM. In the 119-member Telangana Assembly, BRS currently has 104 MLAs.
While it was earlier speculated that only around 20 sitting MLAs may not return to the contest in the 2023 elections, it now appears that the number could be even lower, with only about 10 legislators expected to be left out of the list, a top source in the party said. This is despite unrest in many constituencies among BRS workers and leaders against their respective MLAs. Even legislators whose chances of returning to power are slim are still likely to be given tickets, another source said. “Not everyone is happy about the decision but KCR has given many MLAs his word,” the source added.
In many constituencies, there have been reports of looming discontent among BRS workers and ticket aspirants against the sitting MLAs getting tickets again, including Mahabubabad, Station Ghanpur, Kothagudem, and other places. Incidentally, in Kothagudem, Vanama Venkateswara Rao, who had won the 2018 election, was recently disqualified by the Telangana High Court for failing to disclose his complete property details in his election affidavit. He had contested the 2018 election on a Congress ticket but later switched to BRS, and the petition challenging his victory was filed by rival BRS leader Jalagam Venkat Rao who had contested against him on a BRS ticket. Meanwhile, state Minister V Srinivas Goud too, is facing a petition challenging his election in 2018 based on discrepancies in his affidavit.
Earlier in June, Telangana Congress president Revanth Reddy had challenged the BRS to give tickets to all 104 sitting MLAs if the party was confident of its work over the past nine years. BRS has been in power in Telangana for two consecutive terms, since the state’s formation in 2014. This time, Congress and BJP are its main contenders.
In 2018, CM KCR dissolved the Assembly eight months before his government’s term would’ve ended in May 2019, and went in for early polls, thereby avoiding simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state. This time too, there was speculation of early elections, but the government has completed its full second term and the election is expected to be held before December 2023. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to announce the dates for the polls.