Party chief and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao named 38-year-old Gellu Srinivas Yadav, a Backward Classes (BC) student leader. He actively participated in the separate statehood movement as the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party’s candidate to take on his former aide in the Huzurabad by-election on Wednesday.
The CM has chosen a BC leader from the Yadava community to contest against Eatala Rajender, a strong BC leader from Huzurabad who hails from the Mudiraj community, after announcing the implementation of the Dalit Bandhu scheme in the Huzurabad constituency, which accounts for nearly 50,000 of the total 2.2 lakh voters. A total of 1.2 lakh BC voters makes up the majority.
Gellu Srinivas Yadav is the current state president of the TRS students’ wing, having been a party member from its foundation. He is a research researcher in Political Science with a Master’s and LLB degree from Karimnagar district.
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During the Telangana agitation, Yadav, the president of the TRSV unit at Osmania University, was arrested and imprisoned numerous times. CM KCR finalized Gellu Srinivas’ candidacy for the Huzurabad by-elections, recognizing his disciplined demeanor, service orientation, and determination,” according to a statement. On August 16, the CM will speak at a public assembly in Huzurabad.
A disagreement between the CM and his former aide forced a by-poll in the Huzurabad assembly constituency, which was represented four times by former TRS leader and former health minister Etela Rajender. Rajender resigned from his MLA seat and party membership in the first week of June after being fired from the state cabinet, and allegations of him and his family stealing government lands allotted to farmers were made public.
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Rajender soon joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and is expected to run for the Huzurabad seat for the saffron party. He’s also embarked on a padayatra and has been interacting with voters in the area. While the Election Commission of India has yet to release the bye-election timetable, it is anticipated to take place in September. The election is also being viewed as a prestige issue for the Chief Minister.
