Ambitious target set for Komatireddy brothers

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has set a big target for the Komatireddy brothers in the Bhongir constituency, where the former’s close aide, Chalama Kiran Kumar Reddy, is being fielded from the party.

According to sources, during the review meeting for Bhongir held at Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy’s residence in Jubilee Hills, Revanth promised a Cabinet position to his younger brother, who had earlier strongly pitched for his wife’s candidature from the constituency. As the Komatireddy family has strongly lobbied for someone from the family, including a nephew, Revanth wanted to make sure the local heavy weights from the erstwhile Nalgonda district not only supported the candidate but also owned the political campaign, ensuring the party’s win. In this endeavour, Rajgopal Reddy has taken on the responsibility of the campaign as the constituency incharge. The Bhongir constituency was represented by both brothers earlier, the latest being Komatireddy Venkat Reddy before becoming MLA and resigning as Parliamentarian. Revanth Reddy, with the aim of garnering their support, personally visited Rajgopal’s residence on Wednesday.

In 2019, Venkat Reddy won with 5,32,795 votes with a slender majority against TRS (now BRS) candidate Boora Narsaiah, who got 5,27,575 votes. The BJP stood a distant third with only 65,451 votes.

A decade ago, in 2009, Rajgopal, representing the Congress, won with over five lakh votes; however, he lost to Boora Narsaiah in the next election held in 2014. Boora Narsaiah remains a strong candidate but represents the BJP, while Kyama Mallesh is contesting from the BRS.

Caste equations in the constituency are likely to play a major role, which has the maximum BC votes. While the Congress candidate represents the Reddy community, both the BJP and BRS candidates represent the BC castes.