SNCN ACHARYULU
Hyderabad
In the lead-up to the upcoming Assembly elections, certain MLAs belong to the ruling party in Telangana, including three Ministers, are in the soup. While the Ministers are facing election petitions, some of the MLAs are facing serious allegations such as involvement in illegal activities and sexual harassment.
On the flip side, this litany of charges will help the BRS leadership to boldly change some of these sitting MLAs. Still, in the case of some of the tainted MLAs, the BRS brass must compromise as they are ‘strong’ candidates.
In the coming Telangana Assembly elections, winning every hotly contested seat is important for the BRS, which is hoping for a hat-trick victory amid anti-incumbency factors.
The Ministers, V Srinivasa Goud, Koppula Eswar, and Gangula Kamalakar are facing election petitions from their political opponents. The future of these ministers is virtually in the hands of courts.
For, if there are adverse verdicts ahead of the Assembly elections, which are a few months away, they could face problems in contesting elections for some years.
The Telangana High Court has already disqualified Kothagudem MLA Vanama Venkateswar Rao and declared Jalagam Venkat Rao as MLA.
In the 2018 Assembly elections,Vanama contested as Congress candidate and Jalagam contested as BRS candidate. Later,Vanama joined the BRS alongwith some other Congress MLAs.
For the BRS leadership, it makes no difference whether the Kothagudem MLA is Vanama or Jalagam since both are in BRS.
Meanwhile, Bellampalli MLA Durgam Chennaiah and Station Ghanpur MLA and former deputy Chief Minister T Rajaiah have been accused of harassing women.
One BRS MLA from GHMC limits allegedly spoke to a woman corporator in a late-night call harassing her. Sources said that the woman corporator recorded the call and reportedly took to the notice of BRS leadership.
BRS MLA Muttireddy Yadagiri is facing allegations of land-grabbing from none other than his daughter T Bhavani.
In fact, the district collector has already submitted a report to the state government against Yadagiri regarding the grabbing of land of a lake.
This has created a sensation in political circles. However, the state government transferred the district collector after the incident.
Three more MLAs from Adilabad district are facing charges of committing illegal activities.
There are speculations that the BRS leadership wants to change about 25 sitting MLAs, including those who have no bright chances of winning in the coming Assembly elections. So, the MLAs facing serious allegations are going to be sitting ducks.
