Hyderabad: N Sri Ganesh, a BJP leader who recently lost in the polls, has now joined the Congress party ahead of the upcoming by-election for the Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly constituency. This move came shortly after Ganesh participated in campaigning for the BJP candidate for the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency, Eatala Rajender.
The by-election for Secunderabad Cantonment, which is part of the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency, is set to take place on May 13 along with the Lok Sabha polls. The vacancy for this seat occurred after the sitting MLA G LasyaNanditha from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) passed away in a road accident on February 23.
In the previous election, Nanditha had defeated Sri Ganesh of BJP by a margin of 17,169 votes. It was expected that Sri Ganesh would be nominated once again by the BJP, but his decision to join the Congress party has surprised many. The ruling party is now likely to field Sri Ganesh in the upcoming by-election.
On the other hand, BRS is expected to nominate Nivedita, Nanditha’s sister, for the by-election in hopes of retaining the seat through the sympathy factor. With Sri Ganesh joining the Congress party, they now have a strong candidate for the by-election.
This by-election holds significance for the Congress party as they aim to strengthen their presence in Hyderabad, where they did not win any seats in the previous Assembly polls. In 2023, the Congress party won 64 out of 119 seats in the Assembly.
Moreover, this by-election is important for Congress as Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was elected from the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat in 2019.
