BJP legislator Eatala Rajender will be competing against Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in the Gajwel constituency during the November 30 Assembly polls. Eatala will also be contesting from the Huzurabad constituency, which he currently represents. The BJP’s first list of candidates includes 52 names and indicates that state president G Kishan Reddy and OBC committee chairman Dr Laxman will not be contesting. Kishan Reddy may possibly be the party candidate again from the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency.
Three of the BJP’s sitting Lok Sabha members – Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Dharmapuri Arvind, and Soyam Bapu Rao – will be participating in the Assembly elections. The BJP has also included former MLAs, MPs, and Municipal Chairpersons in their list of candidates. The party is expected to release a second list after Dasara. Rani Rudrama Reddy, a spokesperson for the party, will be running against BRS working president KT Rama Rao in Sircilla.
In a significant development, the party has lifted the suspension of T Raja Singh, who represents the Goshamahal constituency, and announced him as a candidate. Raja Singh was previously suspended from the party due to controversial remarks he made about Islam and Prophet Mohammed in a video that was later taken down by social media.
According to the BJP list, K Venkata Ramana Reddy will be competing against the CM in the Kamareddy constituency. KCR will be contesting from two segments in the upcoming polls – Gajwel and Kamareddy. Errabelli Pradeep Rao, brother of Errabelli Dayakar Rao who recently joined the BJP, will be contesting from Warangal East. The list of 52 candidates includes 12 women, 8 SC candidates, and 6 ST candidates.
The saffron party plans to intensify its campaign after Dasara, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing about 5-10 public meetings, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda participating in about 15 meetings. Shah is scheduled to visit the state on October 27.
