KCR ready to ambush with Plan B, but Congress goes slow

HYDERABAD: TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has drawn up a 'Plan B' for fielding candidates in the ensuing elections. Though KCR announced party nominees for 105 assembly constituencies on September 6, Congress did not bite the bait and is keeping cards close to its chest. Congress viewed the TRS list as 'mind games' by KCR and is following the due process for nominating candidates, particularly with the 'mahakutami' in place.
According to sources, KCR is waiting to see if 'winnable' candidates of Congress are denied seats because of the alliance. In that case, a strategy has been hammered out to wean them away and give tickets. For example, Congress sitting legislator from Jagtial, T Jeevan Reddy, is gearing up to contest from the seat. So is TDP's Telangana president L Ramana. But if the Congress-TDP alliance dashes Jeevna Reddy's hopes, TRS plans to woo him. Though TRS has already declared M Sanjay Kumar as the party's nominee, getting a heavyweight like Jeevan Reddy into TRS would be a big advantage for the party.

As part of 'Plan B', the TRS leadership has also identified candidates who could be replaced, mainly because of charges levelled against them by the Opposition. On shaky ground are Armoor MLA Jeevan Reddy and Putta Madhu, sitting legislator from Manthani.

In 2014 elections, former Speaker K R Suresh Reddy lost from Armoor to the TRS candidate, A Jeevan Reddy. In the event that KCR chooses to replace Jeevan Reddy, K R Suresh Reddy might be preferred. But Jeevan Reddy has been a loyalist of Nizamabad MP K Kavitha and he's hoping that his loyalty would be a face-saver.

In 2014 elections, TRS won 63 seats and leaders are openly declaring a target of 100 this time. While touching that figure will be a dream come true for TRS, the message that has gone down to the grassroots is that in the larger scheme of things, candidates should be willing to make a sacrifice and allow KCR to field 'right' candidates after Congress declares its candidates.

KCR has also given out signals that his own family would be willing to agree for change of seats if reshuffle becomes a necessity. This could also mean a change of seat for Siddipet MLA and irrigation minister T Harish Rao. For that matter, only to show he is not discriminating against his nephew, Chandrasekhar Rao is also toying with the idea of using his son, municipal administration minister and sitting Sircilla MLA K T Rama Rao to contest from a different constituency, if need be.