Telanagana BJP MLA Eatala Rajender on Monday said he is serious in his statement that will contest against Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao from the Gajwel constituency, adding that the latter will definitely suffer defeat at the hands of the saffron camp.
“I have not made the statement just like that,” said Rajender while reacting to a statement from Telanagana’s Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalar daring him to contest against KCR (as the Chief Minister is popularly known).
The former minister told reporters that KCR spent hundreds of crores to defeat him in the Huzurabad by-election, adding that several ministers and other leaders resorted to high-handedness and the entire official machinery focused on the constituency.
Rajender said he had then challenged KCR to contest against him instead of fielding someone else from his party.
The BJP MLA noted that after the victory in the by-election, his target was to defeat KCR and he stood by his words.
The Chief Minister, who was elected to the Assembly from Gajwel in 2018, is contesting from Gajwel and also from Kamareddy in the next month’s polls.
It is not clear if Rajender will also contest from Huzurabad or Gajwel.
The BJP is yet to announced the candidates for November 30 elections.
Rajender, once a trusted confidant of KCR, was dismissed from Cabinet in 2021 after he allegedly tried to challenge the leadership.
The Chief Minister had also ordered an inquiry into the alleged encroachment of assigned land by Jamuna Hatcheries owned by Rajender’s wife in Hakimpet, Gajwel.
Rajender resigned from both the BRS and Assembly membership, targeting KCR over his alleged autocratic style of functioning.
He later joined BJP and contested the by-election on the saffron party’s ticket.
Since Gajwel has a sizeable number of voters from Mudiraj community to which Rajender belongs, there is demand from BJP leaders in the constituency to field him against KCR.