Telangana election: BJP releases list of 14 candidates

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released a list of 14 candidates for the ensuing General Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Telangana.

Deshpandey Rajeshwar Rao from Sangareddy and Ramchander Rao from Malkajgiri have been nominated by the party.

Among the 52 candidates on the BJP's first list were three Lok Sabha MPs, including Bandi Sanjay Kumar, the party's former president of Telangana. On October 10, Amit Shah gave speeches at two public gatherings in Adilabad, one of which was a "professionals and intellectuals meeting." This marked the beginning of the BJP's election campaign.

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The BJP has also included T Raja Singh, a fiery leader of Hindutva, on its first list. Singh had been suspended last year for allegedly making offensive statements about the Prophet Muhammad, but his suspension was revoked. Etela Rajender, the head of the election committee, has been nominated from Huzurabad, a seat the former BRS leader has in the departing legislature.

Two additional MPs from Boath and Koratla, Soyam Bapu Rao and Dharmapuri Arvind, have been fielded along with Kumar, who is from Karimnagar. There are four state-based Lok Sabha MPs for the BJP. Another MP whose name is not on the first list is G Kishan Reddy, the state president and union minister. The Congress is fighting hard as well, but the BJP is making a lot of effort to become the primary rival to the ruling BRS.