Nagarjunasagar Assembly bypoll: First-time candidates pitted against Congress veteran

After days of suspense, TRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced Bhagat’s name on Monday afternoon and handed over the party’s B-form as well as a cheque for Rs 28 lakh towards campaign expenditure. He has been a TRS worker in the constituency since 2014.

For the bypoll scheduled for April 17, the process of filing nominations had begun on March 23. Congress party had named party strongman K Jana Reddy as their candidate on the same day the Election Commission of India announced the bypolls. Reddy, a veteran leader from the district, has won seven times from the Nagarjunasagar seat and was defeated in 2018 by Narsimhaiah.

Meanwhile, the BJP has fielded P Ravi Kumar Naik, a civil surgeon, who recently joined the party. While the Congress candidate belongs to the Reddy community, and the TRS candidate from Yadava community, a group with sizeable numbers in the constituency, the BJP candidate belongs to the ST community.

Even as the BJP was finalizing its candidate, party leader K Nivedita Reddy, who unsuccessfully contested from the seat in 2018, had gone ahead and filed her nomination papers.

Thanking the chief minister for reposing faith in him, Bhagat said a TRS win in Nagarjunasagar seat is a forgone conclusion. He told the press that welfare schemes rolled out by the CM will ensure the party’s victory just like it did in 2018.

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