Sukhender quits, poll churn in Nalgonda

HYDERABAD: With Nalgonda TRS MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy submitting his resignation from the Lok Sabha to TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday, byelection to this seat now appears imminent. Indications are that Sukhender Reddy is set to be appointed as convenor of the to-be-formed state-level Farmer Coordination Committee, a cabinet minister-rank post.And once Sukhender is appointed to that post, he would be holding an office of profit and hence cannot continue to be a MP. Sources said KCR will soon forward the resignation letter to the LS Speaker and start the process for the holding a bypoll. Sukhender crossed over to the TRS after winning the 2014 election on a Congress ticket. By forcing the bypoll, KCR wants to ensure a TRS victory ahead of the assembly elections in 2019.
The main aim of the CM in engineering the bypoll is to embarrass the state Congress leadership. Assembly constituencies of TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy (Huzurnagar) and his wife Padmavathi Reddy (Kodad), leader of the opposition K Jana Reddy (Nagarjunasagar) and party leader Komatireddy Venkat Reddy (Nalgonda) fall in the Nalgonda Lok Sabha constituency. By winning the seat with a massive majority, KCR wants to demoralize the Congress cadre ahead of the general elections, the sources said.
“As a loyal party worker, I will do any work given to me by the CM," Sukhender told TOI. Opposition parties have begun marshalling forces to field a common candidate. There is a plan to field either Revanth Reddy or Kodandaram.