Telangana Assembly Election 2018: From K Chandrashekar Rao to Akbaruddin Owaisi, here's a look at key candidates

Over 1,800 candidates are in the fray for the 119 constituencies in the 7 December Telangana Assembly election. According to an official release by the Election Commission, 1,762 nominations were either rejected or withdrawn. Telangana Assembly was dissolved on 6 September – more than eight months ahead of the expiry of its term – on the recommendation of (now) caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who opted to go for early elections. If exit polls are to be believed, Telangana appears set for another five years of Telangana Rashtra Samithi rule. Congress has struck an understanding with Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) to form the Mahakutami alliance. TDP fought the last election in alliance with BJP. Here are the key candidates who will contest the Telangana election: [caption id=“attachment_5642191” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] K Chandrashekar Rao (left) and Uttam Kumar Reddy. Agencies[/caption] K Chandrashekar Rao The caretaker chief minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) supremo is contesting the polls from the Gajwel constituency. KCR is undoubtedly the most important candidate in the Telangana polls, as the Mahakutami’s attacks are primarily focused on him. And as his son KT Rama Rao himself admitted, TRS is banking on his father and his vision to come to power again. The caretaker chief minister had quit TDP to float the TRS and revive the movement for Telangana state in 2001. At that time, KCR was not a very popular leader, but he proved a huge crowd-puller and single-handedly made ‘Jai Telangana’ a house-hold slogan. Even his bitter critics admit that the credit of taking the Telangana movement to every nook and corner of the region goes to KCR. In the 2014 polls, even though TRS had managed to just about scrape together a majority of 63 seats out of the total 119 seats, KCR had managed to engineer defections from the Opposition and increase the strength of his party’s seats to 90. Uttam Kumar Reddy Telangana Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy is seeking re-election from Huzurnagar constituency. In the previous election, Reddy had won the seat by a margin of 23,924 votes over his nearest TRS rival. Reddy, a former pilot in Indian Air Force, is betting on the “anti-incumbency factor” and the support of the alliance partners for victory in this election. He is seeking re-election for the fifth time. In 1999 and 2004, he contested from Kodad while in 2009 and 2014, he was elected from Huzurnagar. His wife Padmavathi, who represented Kodad in 2014, is contesting again. KT Rama Rao Popularly known as KTR, 42-year-old Rao, KCR’s son and caretaker state IT minister, is contesting for the third time from Sircilla constituency, located 140 kilometres from Hyderabad. He had won in 2014 polls with over 53,000 votes against a Congress candidate. KTR is one of the most popular faces in the state and a potential successor of his father. He had earlier said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity is “on the decline” and the BJP leaders are “living in a fool’s paradise” if they feel other parties are scared of the ‘Modi factor’. V Pratap Reddy Congress has fielded Reddy against KCR in Gajwel. In 2014, Reddy had unsuccessfully contested polls from the same constituency against KCR. In May this year, Reddy had left TDP to join Congress. According to PTI,  Reddy on 27 November had made a futile self-immolation bid after a search was conducted at his house in Kompally following a complaint that cash meant for distribution to voters was hidden there. N Venkata Suhasini TDP founder NT Rama Rao’s granddaughter N Venkata Suhasini, who is contesting the Telangana polls from Kukatpally constituency in Greater Hyderabad, is banking on her lineage. The presence of Suhasini in the electoral fray in Telangana is significant as the top leadership of TDP moved to Andhra Pradesh following the bifurcation. TDP has fielded Suhasini, daughter of former Minister N Harikrishna, who died in a road accident this year. Suhasini, 43, is a social activist. The Kukatpally constituency has a considerable number of voters with roots in Andhra Pradesh. Akbaruddin Owaisi Akbaruddin Owaisi, brother of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi, is contesting from AIMIM stronghold Chandrayangutta constituency. Owaisi has been elected to the Assembly in 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014 from the constituency. He had quit his MBBS study in his second year to join politics. The AIMIM leader had said that his party was supporting TRS in the election to ensure that it emerges as an alternative force to the Congress and BJP in the upcoming elections. He had also said that chief ministers have always sought the support of AIMIM and the party would be the kingmaker in the state polls. K Laxman The Telangana BJP chief is seeking re-election from Musheerabad constituency in Hyderabad. Even before the Telangana Assembly had been dissolved, Laxman had said that his party was ready to face polls in the state whenever they are held. In August, Laxman had demanded a National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Hyderabad, alleging that the state capital had become a haven for terrorists. T Harish Rao State irrigation minister and KCR’s nephew, T Harish Rao is widely known as a key troubleshooter of the ruling party. Rao, who is contesting for the sixth time from Siddipet, has never lost an election since 2004. He said he is not even campaigning in his area and is focussing all his efforts in Gajwel, the seat KCR is fighting from. From door-to-door visits to addressing rallies, Rao is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that his uncle KCR returns to power for the second time. A Revanth Reddy Telangana Congress working president A Revanth Reddy is contesting from Kodangal in Vikarabad district. In September this year, Income Tax department officials had conducted searches at the residences and offices of Reddy and his close relatives and seized “key documents”. However, a senior official of the I-T Department had ruled out Reddy’s arrest. On 31 May, 2015, Reddy, then in TDP, was caught by the Anti-Corruption Bureau while allegedly paying a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to Elvis Stephenson, a nominated MLA, for supporting TDP nominee Vem Narendar Reddy in Legislative Council elections held on 1 June, 2015. Later, all the accused were granted bail. T Raja Singh Every election has that one candidate who is an expert at making outrageous and shocking remarks. For Telangana polls, that candidate is none other than BJP’s T Raja Singh, contesting from Goshamahal. The latest gem from Singh came when he challenged Akbaruddin Owaisi to (drum roll) a street fight. While speaking to India Today TV, Singh also said that he “would not stop fighting Akbaruddin Owaisi till his severed head is under his foot.” In fact, Singh is renowned for making such comments. For example, he had earlier said that incidents of lynching will not stop unless cow gets status of ‘rashtra mata’. With inputs from agencies