It has become a challenge for the BJP to get a candidate in the Nagarjuna Sagar bypoll especially following the victory in Dubbaka and its better performance in GHMC. Though the BJP claims that it would win Nagarjuna Sagar bypoll like Dubbaka, the situation at the ground level is totally different. In Dubbaka, Raghunandan Rao was the only strong candidate and also had sympathy having lost three elections. While the Congress party brought Ch Srinivas Reddy from TRS at the last minute, the social equations in Nagarjuna Sagar are different.
There are no effective issues like Gajwel and Siddipet here. On the other hand, Congress party has a strong leader (as of now) K Jana Reddy and he is expecting a ticket for his son. Though there is a campaign that Jana Reddy is joining BJP, it is not happening. Though the party has not taken any decision, the name of Niveditha Reddy Kankanala who had contested from the party in the last elections is being heard.
Presently there is a talk that a ticket would be given to a leader who comes from the TRS. BC leader Anjaiah Yelganamoni’s name is heard. During the 2014 elections, he contested on a TDP ticket and got 27,852 votes. He joined BJP in 2018. He is expecting a ticket as there are more BCs in the constituency. He has support from the seniors in the party. He organized a puja in Haliya and called many leaders. Meanwhile, the Nalgonda district BJP Chief Kankanala Sridhar Reddy’s wife Kankanala Nivedita was not invited for the program. In the last elections, she got 2,678 votes and lost deposit in the TRS wave.
Boddu Koti Reddy’s name comes to the fore
Boddu Koti Reddy, who joined TRS in 2018 elections, is one of the key followers of K Jana Reddy. He expected a ticket from TRS but was unsuccessful in getting one. He is likely to take a decision only after getting clarity from the TRS. If TRS decides to give the ticket to the family members of Nomula Narsimhaiah, Koti Reddy would look towards BJP and this would ensure he would dent the vote bank of Jana Reddy. As far as TRS is concerned, the party is looking at options like family members of Nomula, Gutha Sukhender Reddy, Real Estate businessman NRI Gaddampally Ravinder Reddy, and former MLA G Rammurthy Yadav’s nephew M Ranjit. The BJP had no issues in selecting candidates for Dubbaka and GHMC, but this time selecting a candidate for Nagarjuna Sagar bypoll will be tough.
