Possibly setting a new record, a top industrialist and a woman politician defected from their parties, joined the rival camps and managed to get tickets to fight the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana, all under 48 hours.

Nama Nageswara Rao, founder of Madhucon Projects, a construction major, quit the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Wednesday, joined the Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS), and on Friday was named by K Chandrasekhar Rao, Chief Minister and TRS chief, as the party’s candidate from Khammam.

The former MP and MLA from TDP — a close associate of N Chandrababu Naidu, TDP Chief and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh — had lost the Assembly elections in December under the TDP banner.

Nageswar Rao will most likely face Renuka Chowdhury of the Congress (I). In the last five years, both his political and business fortunes have been down, with Madhucon Projects’ performance being on the decline.

Surprise defection

DK Aruna, a former Information Minister and three-time Congress (I) MLA, sprang a surprise on the party by not just quitting but meeting Amit Shah, BJP President, in New Delhi. She has been named by the BJP as its candidate from Mahbubnagar, where the party has good presence.

In 2009, AP Jitender Reddy, now in TRS and the sitting MP, had won from the constituency on a BJP ticket.

Aruna has blamed party chief Uttam Kumar Reddy and veteran leader S Jaipal Reddy, who represented Mahbubnagar earlier, for her exit.

In the April 11 election, she may give a tough fight to the TRS candidate, Manne Srinivasa Reddy.

On the other hand, the BJP has denied its veteran leader and former Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya a renomination for the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat. Incidentally, the politician also lost his Minister of State for Labour portfolio in one of the cabinet reshuffles undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

New faces in TRS list

Fresh from the thumping victory in the Assembly elections, the TRS has pitted several new faces for LS polls. In the list of candidates are Talasani Sai Krishna Yadav (Secunderabad), Marri Rajasekhara Reedy (Malkajgiri), Maloth Kavitha (Mahbubabad) and Ranjita Reddy (Chevalla).

The TRS, which won 11 seats in 2014, has dropped three of its sitting MPs — AP Jitender Reddy (Mahbubnagar), Gutha Sukhender Reddy (Nalgonda) and Ajmera Seetharama Naik (Mahbubabad).

In Mahbubnagar, the new candidate is Manne Srinivas Reddy. Gutha Sukhender Reddy, who defected from Congress (I), has been made an MLC, and the ticket has been given to V Narasimha Reddy.

He will take on Uttam Kumar Reddy, the Pradesh Congress (I) chief, who is an MLA at present.

Ajmera Seetharama Naik has been replaced by Maloth Kavitha, a youngster who will face former MP from the Congress (I), P Balram Naik.

In Malkajgiri, Marri Rajasekhar Reddy will be involved in a triangular contest with A Revanth Reddy, the working President of Congress (I) and N Ramchander Rao, an MLC of the BJP.

In Chevella, Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, who won on a TRS ticket in 2014, switched to Congress (I) on the eve of the December 2018 Legislative Assembly elections. Consequently, the TRS is now fielding Gadam Ranjith Reddy, a wealthy poultry farmer and leader of the industry federation.

He is considered close to Sabitha Indra Reddy, ex minister of Congress (I), who recently switched to the TRS.

KCR, who kept the list close to his chest even after launching the party campaign, has retained B Vinod Kumar (Karimnagar); his daughter Kavitha Kalvakuntla (Nizamabad); B Narsaiah Goud (Bhuvanagiri); and Kotha Prabhakar Reddy (Medak), who won the byelection after KCR relinquished the seat in 2014.

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