Telangana: Karimnagar back in focus as TRS, BJP eye Huzurabad

HYDERABAD: Karimnagar district, home to Telangana sentiment and statehood movement, is back in sharp focus with recent political developments involving ousted health minister Eatala Rajender vis-a-vis TRS as byelection for Huzurabad assembly constituency in the district looks imminent with Eatala resigning as an MLA on Friday.
While Eatala is set to come out with all guns blazing and win the bypoll at all costs, the TRS will go at full throttle to defeat the former minister who has been winning the seat since 2009. Karimnagar gave a rude jolt to the TRS in 2019 general elections when BJP’s Bandi Sanjay Kumar, who is now state party president, won the Lok Sabha seat against then sitting MP B Vinod Kumar.
Analysts said the district had several leaders who were vocal during the statehood movement and Huzurabad bypoll will be seen as a battle between the ideologues. “The BJP deployed another Telangana ideologue Swamy Goud, former legislative council chairman, to woo Eatala into the saffron party sums up everything as to which way the wind is blowing,” an analyst said.
The Karimnagar parliamentary seat was once represented by K Chandrasekhar Rao. The forthcoming bypoll assumes significance for the BJP as well since its chief Sanjay represents the Lok Sabha seat now. Ever since Eatala was dropped from the KCR cabinet, Huzurabad became a focal point for both the TRS and the BJP. Though Eatala was supposed to join the BJP much earlier, there was some hesitancy in both camps over the byelection result.