Flames of dissidence in TRS

Warangal: After keeping the aspirants on tenterhooks for over two months, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has finally ended suspense over Warangal East constituency by announcing Mayor Nannapaneni Narender as its candidate.

Since the TRS had announced its first list comprising of 105 candidates soon after dissolving the Assembly on September 6, there has been a high drama – from denial of ticket to incumbent MLA Konda Surekha to her joining in the Congress.

The delay in the announcement of candidate for East seat kept quite a few aspirants anxious. Former minister Basvaraj Saraiah, former MP Gundu Sudharani, Gudimalla Ravi Kumar and Errabelli Pradeep Rao etc were among others, who pinned their hopes on the ticket. Amid all calculations and permutations, 45-year-old Narender got the opportunity.

Narender, a commerce graduate, made his mark in politics when he was elected as an independent director of the Kalpalatha Cooperative Super Bazar in 1993.

Later, he joined the Telugu Desam Party in 1995 and worked in different capacities. Later in 2005, he was elected as the 16th Division Corporator of the municipality. He was the TDP City vice-president when he joined the TRS in 2009. He held the post of TRS urban president before he was elected as the Mayor of Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) in 2016.

Narender, who was supposed to contest for the Warangal East Assembly seat in 2014, made way for Konda Surekha at the behest of TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao. In return, the TRS chief reportedly promised him the Mayor post.

As the 2019 elections neared, the rivalry between the groups of Narender and Konda came out in open. The proposed construction of Iqbal Minar near Pochamma Maidan in the city has become a bone of contention between the two groups as they took to streets in July this year.

Now with Konda Surekha contesting from Parkal, the Congress-led Mahakutami is yet to announce its candidate for Warangal East seat. Although the TRS is confident of retaining the seat, firstly Narender had to win the hearts of his party dissidents, especially those, who tried for ticket.

Speaking to The Hans India, senior TRS leader and advocate Gudimalla Ravi Kumar said: “It’s disgusting to see the leadership ignoring the services of those leaders, who have been with the party since its inception.

There is no point in giving ticket to Narender, who already holds the Mayor post. There are quite a few TRA workers vying for an opportunity to be part of government.” Meanwhile, the followers of Errabelli Pradeep Rao staged a protest in Warangal demanding ticket to their leader.

“Unless the leadership interferes, the dissidence over Narender’s candidature is likely to cost the TRS party dearly,” a senior TRS leader said. As this was not enough, it’s said that Konda family is hellbent on defeating Narender by manoeuvring their cadres in the East constituency.