Telangana: BRS MLA rolls on the floor, cries after not getting party ticket

On Tuesday (22 August), the Former Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana, Thatikonda Rajaiah got emotional and broke down in front of his supporters. Apparently, he cried profusely after he was denied a ticket from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for the upcoming state assembly elections.

#WATCH | Jangaon, Telangana: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Thatikonda Rajaiah, broke down reportedly after being denied a ticket from Station Ghanpur constituency for the upcoming Assembly elections. (22.08)

(Viral video) pic.twitter.com/4KXtqG15LT

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Currently, he is a sitting MLA from the Ghanpur (Station) constituency. However, BRS President and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao decided to field another candidate from his Ghanpur constituency. Instead of Rajaih, this time BRS has placed its bet on another senior leader Kadiyam Srihari to fight from there.

After getting the reports that he did not get a party ticket, Rajaiah reached the Ambedkar statue centre in his constituency. When he reached there, his supporters started raising slogans, “Jai Rajaiah, Jai Telangana”. Amid the sloganeering, he could not control his emotions and wept in front of his followers.

The video of the said incident has gone viral on social media. In the video, he can be seen prostrate on the floor and crying in front of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s statue. Later, he addressed his supporters and claimed that though he had been denied a ticket by the BRS leadership, he would, however, remain loyal to the party.

As per media reports, a village sarpanch who also belongs to his own party levelled sexual harassment allegations against Rajaiah a few months ago. It is claimed that this is the reason he did not receive a ticket from the Ghanpur constituency. He has been representing this constituency for the past one and a half decades.

Notably, Rajaiah had been representing the Station Ghanpur constituency since 2009. After the formation of Telangana in 2014, he became one of the Deputy Chief Ministers of the newly formed state and held the health portfolio. 

However, there were allegations of corruption in the health department and he was dropped from the Cabinet in 2015. Despite that, the party gave him a ticket from the same constituency in 2018. 

Meanwhile, on Monday (21 August), Telangana CM KCR announced the list of 115 candidates out of the total 119 seats for the upcoming assembly elections scheduled later this year. As per the announcement, he will contest from two seats, Gajwel and Kamareddy. Further, his son and state’s information technology minister KT Rama Rao KTR) will contest from Sircilla. His nephew T Harish Rao has received a ticket from Siddipet constituency.