Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao Announces A Bold Two-Seat Gamble

BRS leader and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao surprised everyone on Monday by announcing his decision to contest from two assembly seats- Gajwel and Kamareddy, in the upcoming elections.

The speculation of KCR running from Kamareddy had been circulating in political circles for months. However, most observers believed that he would leave Gajwel for Kamareddy.

KCR will be the first chief minister since NT Rama Rao to run for two assembly seats. In 1989, NTR had contested from Kalwakurthy in the former Mahbubnagar district and Hindupur in Anantapur district, but unfortunately lost in Kalwakurthy.

Chiranjeevi, a former Union minister and Tollywood star, had also run for two seats - Tirupati and Palacole in present-day Andhra Pradesh - as the founder of the Praja Rajyam Party, but was unsuccessful in Palacole.

KCR expressed confidence in winning both seats and mentioned that he would decide later on which assembly segment to keep and which to give up. He highlighted that contesting from different constituencies, such as Karimnagar Lok Sabha and Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha, was not uncommon for him.

In the 2018 assembly election, KCR contested from Gajwel, while in 2014, he contested from both Gajwel assembly seat and the Medak LS seat. After becoming Telangana's first chief minister in 2014, he resigned as Medak MP.

According to party sources, KCR had been contemplating contesting from two seats for about a year due to requests from Nalgonda and Karimnagar. Some individuals had even suggested that he consider a seat from south Telangana, particularly from Mahbubnagar, as he had previously represented the Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha seat from 2009 to 2014.