Telangana polls: Reddies inseparable from politics of Telangana, account for 39 seats in BRS list

HYDERABAD: The first list of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) candidates for the elections has broadly represented different sections of the society, with reddies taking 39 seats out of the 115 announced on Monday, forming the largest group.

Political analysts point out that inseparable from Telangana politics, the reddy community received fair representation not because they form a formidable rich class but because of the role they play in different aspects of Telangana’s economy.

On the other hand, 23 seats were allocated to candidates from backward classes, 19 seats for scheduled castes, 12 seats for velamas, 11 seats for scheduled tribes and 3 seats for minorities. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao a velama by caste would be contesting from two places, Gajwel and Kamareddy. Out of the candidates representing the BC communities, 8 seats were allocated to munnuru kapus, 5 for yadavas, 4 for gouds and the remaining for other communities.

In all seven women candidates were nominated out of the 115 candidates announced on Monday. Padma Devender Reddy (Medak), G Lasya Nandita (Cantonment), Kova Lakshmi (Asifabad ST), Gongidi Sunitha (Alair), Bade Nagajyothi (Mulugu ST) and Banoth Haripriya Naik (Yellandu ST) were the women candidates in the first list.

“The BRS will respect any legislation made by the Government of India about the reservation for women in legislative assemblies and parliament. We have nominated women candidates based on the situation in the State and that particular segment,” BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao said while releasing the list.

The party had made 15 changes compared to the 2018 elections. Changes were made in Khanapur (ST), Boath (ST), Kamareddy, Korutla, Vemulawada, Huzurabad, Dubbaka, Uppal, Maheswaram, Malakpet, Karwan, Charminar, Secunderabad Cantt, Ghanpur Station (SC) and Mulugu (ST) segments.