Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy is TRS candidate for Munugode by-poll

HYDERABAD: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has decided the candidature of Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy for the by-election to the Munugode Assembly constituency. Partry supremo K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) on Saturday announced Prabhakar Reddy's name as the party candidate for the crucial by-poll. Munugode will go to poll on November 3 and the counting of votes will be undertaken on November 6.

The announcement came on expected lines as Prabhakar Reddy had been the frontrunner in the TRS for the by-election. The senior leader, who had been an active member of the TRS right from the days of separate statehood agitation, was chosen based on several survey reports besides factors like his familiarity with the constituency and party supremo KCR's trust in him.

The opinion of party's local leaders, activists, district leadership besides the people of the constituency was also taken into serious consideration before finalising the candidature of Prabhakar Reddy. The TRS candidate is also known for his work at the field level and the close contacts he has with the people of Munugode.

KCR hands over B Form to Prabhakar Reddy

Later in the day, KCR formally handed over the party's B Form to Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy, paving the way for his contest in the Munugode by-election. Prabhakar Reddy met KCR at Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad and thanked the party supremo for finalising his candidature. Besides handing over the B Form, KCR also gave a cheque for Rs 40 lakhs from the party fund towards the expenses for the electioneering.

Minister for Energy Jagadish Reddy, MLA Jeevan Reddy and MLCs Takkellapalli Ravinder Rao and Palla Rajeswar Reddy were among those present on the occasion.

Prabhakar Reddy is not a rookie when it comes to electoral contests, having won from Munugode in 2014 Assembly elections with a majority of over 30,000 votes. He however lost the battle the next time in 2019 to Congress party's Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy.

The by-election was necessitated due to the resignation of Rajagopal Reddy. Then in Congress, Rajagopal Reddy quit the party and switched his loyalties to the BJP. He is now hoping to get re-elected from Munugode as a BJP candidate. The Congress party has announced the candidature of Palvai Shravanti, the daughter of veteran leader late Palvai Govardhan Reddy, for the by-election.

Munugode has a total electorate of 2,27,101 out of which 1,15,415 are men and another 1,11,682 women voters. There are 298 polling centres for the electorate to cast their votes.

The TRS, which has recently assumed a new name Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and awaiting recognition from the Election Commission of India (ECI), is upbeat on winning the seat hands down due to the extensive groundwork it has done in the constituency in the recent months.