Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao filed his nomination papers for Gajwel Assembly Constituency on Thursday. This is the third time he is contesting from the constituency. He won the 2014 and 2018 elections from there.
Mr. Rao is contesting from two constituencies in this elections with he opting Kamareddy in addition to Gajwel. The two constituencies are in the news this time not just because the Chief Minister is contesting from them but his former Cabinet colleague and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee Eatala Rajender is taking on Mr. Rao at Gajwel, while Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy is entering the fray at Kamareddy.
Both Mr. Rajender and Mr. Revanth Reddy too are contesting from one more constituency each, their home constituencies of Huzurabad and Kodangal respectively. Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao participated in prayers and pooja at Venkateshwara Swamy temple at Konaipally on November 4 by keeping his nomination papers before the presiding deity before signing them, as has been his practice since 1984.
The BRS chief reached Gajwel at around 11 a.m. and reached the Revenue Divisional Office, the office of the Returning Officer, to complete the formalities of nomination papers filing. Later, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao greeted people who gathered at the helipad by going around the place in an open-top vehicle.
Mr, Chandrasekhar Rao won the 2014 election with a majority of 19,391 votes defeating V. Pratap Reddy of the Telugu Desam Party. In 2018, he defeated the same candidate who contested on the Congress ticket by 58,290 votes. Mr. Pratap Reddy joined TRS (now BRS) in 2019 and is the Chairman of the Forest Development Corporation now.