TRS may pick BC leader for Telangana's Huzurabad bypoll

HYDERABAD:  Now that the TRS has decided to nominate a Reddy leader from the Huzurabad Assembly constituency to the State Legislative Council, it may field a BC leader for the byelection. 
The State Cabinet had cleared the candidature of Padi Kaushik Reddy under the Governor’s quota for the Council on Sunday. The leader had recently joined the TRS from the Congress.

Several leaders from the Reddy and BC communities have their eyes on the TRS ticket for the Huzurabad bypoll, which was necessitated by the resignation of former Health Minister Eatala Rajender. 
According to sources, former Minister E Peddi Reddy and other leaders from Mudiraj, Rajaka, Padmasali, Goud, Munnuru Kapu and Yadva castes are in the race for the ticket.

As Kaushik Reddy was nominated for the MLC post, the chances of fielding another Reddy, like Peddi Reddy, in the bypoll are remote. Though the name of former Minister L Ramana, who belongs to the weavers’ community, is also doing the rounds, the party may not consider him as he is a non-local. Other leaders from weavers’ community like Swargam Ravi and A Veeresha Lingam are also in the race. Besides them, P Mallaiah from Munnuru Kapu and Gellu Srinivas Yadav from the Yadava community are eyeing the ticket.

According to sources, the TRS may consider either Swargam Ravi or Srinivas Yadav for the bypoll. The party may finalise the name of its candidate before Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s visit to Huzurabad on August 16 for the launch of Dalit Bandhu.

Harish holds meet with cadre
Finance Minister T Harish Rao held a meeting with Huzurabad TRS leaders, in Siddipet on Monday. During the meet, the party workers exuded confidence that the TRS candidate will bag the seat with a majority of 50,000 votes. Speaking on the occasion, Harish urged the party workers to ensure TRS’ victory.

FORMER MINISTER NOT TO RESUME PADAYATRA SOON
When Express spoke to one of his close associates, he said that the doctors, after finding high sugar levels in his blood, also noticed blisters on his palms. After multiple health checkups, they decided to perform a knee surgery on the leader. Even after recovery, Rajender won’t be able to resume the padayatra immediately, sources said. Meanwhile, the pink party leaders have also slowed down their campaign in the Assembly segment