Out as candidate, in as minister: BRS balancing act between two Reddys and 1 seat

The BRS ticket from Tandur has gone to Patnam’s arch-rival, P Rohith Reddy, who defeated him in 2018. At the time, Rohith was a Congress candidate.

Patnam won Tandur the first three times as a TDP candidate, in 1994, 1999 and 2009. After Telangana was formed and KCR floated the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now called the BRS), Patnam switched to the party and won Tandur again in 2014. He was included as Transport Minister in KCR’s first Cabinet. After his loss in 2018 to Rohith, Patnam was accommodated as MLC.

BRS sources said that after a decision was taken to give the Tandur ticket to Rohith, the BRS promised Patnam a “suitable position” in exchange.

The rivalry between the two Reddy leaders goes back to 2014, and the first elections held after Telangana was carved out.
Rohith was also in KCR’s party at the time, but was overlooked for the Tandur ticket, which went to Patnam. The latter won and became a minister. However, back in Tandur, Rohith continued to give him a fight.

Eventually, this led to the BRS expelling Rohith from the party. He subsequently joined the Congress.

Rohith had his revenge in the December 2018 Assembly elections, when he defeated Patnam by 2,875 votes.

Since then, the two have been feuding in public, often making accusations of corruption and neglect of the constituency against each other.

Sources said that angry at the constant bickering, KCR had almost decided not to give the ticket to Rohith, and field Patnam again. However, things flipped after Rohith pulled off a “sting” in October last year, at his farmhouse, in which three alleged BJP agents were arrested for reportedly trying to bribe him and three other BRS MLAs with Rs 100 crore to destabilise the KCR government.

After the “sting”, Rohith drove triumphantly to Pragathi Bhavan – the CM’s residence-cum-office – and straight into KCR’s good books.

BRS leaders say that after this dramatic episode, there was little doubt left about Rohith retaining Tandur candidacy.

To ensure that Patnam did not rebel or spoil Rohith’s chances, the BRS sent messages and feelers to its MLC that he would be “taken care of”, before it released the candidate list.

And hence, even if it is just for a few months, Patnam Mahender Reddy gets to be a minister again.