Congress, TRS bigwigs in fray for Andhra Pradesh bypolls

Andhra Pradesh Congress president D Srinivas, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao's son KT Rama Rao and popular Telugu comedian Babu Mohan are among the prominent candidates who are in the fray for bypolls to 12 assembly seats in Telangana region to be held on Tuesday.

Stakes are high for Srinivas, who is trying his luck from his traditional Nizambabad urban constituency, as he had lost last year's assembly elections and his win in current bypolls will boost his political career.

Srinivas reportedly has made failed attempts to get into the state legislative council and also the Rajya Sabha in the recent polls.

The senior Congress leader, who won from Nizamabad numerous times since 1980, is finding the going tough as his BJP rival Y Lakshminarayana, who defeated him in the last year's assembly election, is riding high on the wave of Telangana sentiments.

Lakshminarayana was one among the 12 MLAs to quit his post in support of separate Telangana state, which necessitated the bypoll.

State BJP president G Kishan Reddy, senior party leader Bandaru Dattatreya and the TRS president campaigned for Lakshminarayana.

Srinivas is, however, seeking to gain people's confidence by asserting that he would occupy a "big post" if he wins and that would eventually be beneficial for the constituency.

TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao's son K T Rama Rao is leaving no stone unturned to retain his Sircilla seat in Karimnagr district.

Rama Rao, a US return technocrat, had won the Sircilla seat seat by a narrow margin of over 150 votes in last year's assembly election defeating his rival candiate over K K Mahender Reddy, who contested as a rebel candidate of the TRS.

The ruling Congress has fielded Mahender Reddy this time too and he is giving sleepless nights to Rama Rao.

Siddipet in Medak district is witnessing a clash between T Harish Rao, nephew of the TRS president, and Telugu Desam Party's Babu Mohan, a popular Telugu comedian.

The victory of Harish Rao is considered to be a foregone conclusion as Siddipet is a hotbed of separate Telangana agitation.

However, Babu Mohan and Srinivas Goud of Congress are trying their best to at least reduce the victory margin of Harish Rao, who has been winning from Siddipet since 2004.

Another prominent candidate in the fray is Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) president and former minsiter G Vinod from Chennur (SC) seat in Adilabad district.

Vinod's father and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member G Venkataswamy and his brother G Vivek, sitting Congress MP, have been campaigning for his victory.

Vinod lost narrowly to his TRS rival N Odelu in the last year's general election and he promises to herald faster development in the backward constituency if he wins this time. TDP's Boda Janardhan is also in the fray from the segment.