Karimnagar becomes a hot seat for all political parties in Telangana once again

TPCC working president Ponnam Prabhakar and TPCC women wing president Nerella Sharada are said to be lobbying for the Karimnagar ticket.
TRS Ministers Eatela Rajender and Koppula Eswar inspect preparations at Ujwala Park in Karimnagar on Thursday | Express
TRS Ministers Eatela Rajender and Koppula Eswar inspect preparations at Ujwala Park in Karimnagar on Thursday | Express

KARIMNAGAR: As in the previous elections, this time too Karimnagar has become a hot seat for the political parties with more than one candidate aspiring for the ticket. While TRS leaders have turned their attention to help B Vinod Kumar retain their seat with a record majority of votes, there is intense competition among the Congress and BJP leaders, who are hoping to contest from the seat in the Lok Sabha elections on April 11.

TPCC working president Ponnam Prabhakar and TPCC women wing president Nerella Sharada are said to be lobbying for the Karimnagar ticket. In fact, some poll survey agencies even started making phone calls to the people seeking their opinion on whether Prabhakar or Sharada will make a good candidate. Though Prabhakar’s followers have been expressing confidence that the party will allot the ticket to their leader, when directly asked to comment on the subject, he said with a smile that “as per party high command’s will, he is willing to contest from Karimnagar”.

Wary of poll expenditure
Nerella Sharada, meanwhile, said that she is ready to contest from Karimnagar if party high command takes a decision favouring her candidature. However, she is worried over one aspect — the poll expenditure. She said she will not be able to match the kind of money that candidate of the ruling TRS will be able to spend.

Meanwhile, there seems to be no clarity in the BJP camp. However, both BJP state spokesperson Bandi Sanjay Kumar, who was defeated in Karimnagar constituency in the Assembly polls, and party’s State vice-president Gujjula Ramakrishna Reddy are said to be vying for Karimnagar seat. 

All political parties attach certain sentiment to Karimnagar seat. Since 1971, Karimnagar has sent some prominent leaders to the Parliament. However, it was B Vinod Kumar who won a record majority of 2,45,348 votes in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In 2006 by-elections, TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao won by 2,01,582 voters. This time around, TRS leaders want to ensure a landslide victory, by five lakh majority, for Vinod Kumar.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com