Telangana elections: KCR files nomination for Gajwel, hopes to break jinx - Hindustan Times
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Telangana elections: KCR files nomination for Gajwel, hopes to break jinx

Hindustan Times, Hyderabad | By
Nov 15, 2018 02:47 PM IST

No legislator has been elected twice consecutively from Telangana’s Gajwel assembly seat, but chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao appears confident of breaking the jinx.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday filed his nomination papers for contesting the assembly elections from Gajwel assembly constituency in Siddipet district.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao filed his nomination papers for contesting the assembly elections from Gajwel assembly constituency in Siddipet district.(HT PHOTO)
Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao filed his nomination papers for contesting the assembly elections from Gajwel assembly constituency in Siddipet district.(HT PHOTO)

KCR submitted the papers at the Revenue Divisional Office at Gajwel town exactly at 2.34 pm, which is believed to be an auspicious time fixed by his family priests.

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He was accompanied by his nephew and state irrigation minister T Harish Rao and a host of party leaders.

Before filing the nomination papers, the TRS chief conducted special prayers at Lord Venkateshawra Swamy temple at Konaipalli village of Nagunuru block, about 30 km from Gajwel.

The temple was decorated with flowers on the occasion of KCR’s special prayers. Temple priest Brahmadev Tripathi and several other senior priests blessed the chief minister.

He placed the nomination appears at the feet of the god, before putting his signature on them.

Later, he addressed the villagers briefly saying that the village and the temple had been sentimental for him since he entered politics in 1983. He vowed to develop the village on all fronts and bring waters of Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project to the village by next year.

“I will come to this temple with Kaleswaram water to perform pooja to the Lord”, he promised.

Interestingly, Gajwel assembly constituency has also a strong sentiment attached to it. Ever since it was formed in 1978, no MLA has been elected for two consecutive terms from this constituency, which was once part of Medak district.

Though two former MLAs — B Sanjeeva Rao and J Geetha Reddy represented this constituency for twice in the past, they got elected in different years, but not consecutively.

In 2014, KCR won the election for the first time on TRS ticket over TDP candidate Vanteru Pratap Redddy with a margin of over 19,000 votes, while then sitting Congress MLA T Narsa Reddy came third. Pratap Reddy is now contesting on the Congress ticket, while Narsa Reddy is supporting him.

If the Gajwel jinx for the elected candidates works out this year, too, KCR won’t be able to win the elections again from this constituency. But the chief minister appeared confident of breaking this jinx.

“With the blessings of Lord Venkateshwara and the people of Konaipalli, I am confident of winning the elections again. And the TRS is going to return to power by winning more than 100 out of 119 assembly seats,” he said.

Meanwhile, Harish Rao also filed his nomination papers for contesting the elections from Siddipet constituency. Before praying to the Lord Venkateshwara of Konaipalli, Harish also prayed at a dargah and a church before proceeding to the returning officer’s office to submit his nominations.

M Madhusudhanachary, the speaker of the recently dissolved Telangana Assembly, also filed his nomination from Bhupalpally constituency.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience.

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