KCR family not in election battle for first time in two decades

Hyderabad, April 26: For the first time in two decades, the family of former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) is not in the fray for Lok Sabha elections.

No member of the family of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) founder has filed a nomination for the May 13 polls in the state.

This is the first since the formation of TRS (now BRS) in 2001 that the KCR family is staying away from the contest.

The former chief minister or his family member fought every Parliament and Assembly election since 2004.

KCR, who had resigned from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to float TRS to revive the Telangana movement, had contested for Lok Sabha from Karimnagar and for Assembly from Siddipet. He was elected from both seats but vacated Siddipet to enter Parliament and became a minister in the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.

KCR’s nephew and TRS leader Harish Rao was elected from Siddipet in the by-election.

The TRS founder, who forced by-elections in 2006 and 2008 after differences with Congress over the Telangana issue, retained Karimnagar's seat on both occasions.

In 2009, KCR was elected to Lok Sabha from Mahabubnagar. It was during this term that he succeeded in achieving the goal of Telangana state. KCR’s son K.T. Rama Rao made his electoral debut in the 2009 elections with a win from the Sircilla Assembly seat and he retained the seat in the 2010 by-election.

In 2014, KCR contested for Lok Sabha from Medak and for Assembly from Gajwel. He was elected from both places. As the TRS secured a majority in the 119-member Telangana Assembly, he quit the Medak seat to become the first chief minister of the new state.

In the same elections, KCR’s daughter Kavitha was elected to Lok Sabha from Nizamabad. His son and nephew, who were once again elected to the Assembly from Sircilla and Siddipet respectively, became ministers in his Cabinet.

While TRS retained power in 2018, Kavitha lost the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat to BJP’s Dharampuri Arvind in the 2019 elections. She was later elected to the Legislative Council.

In 2022, KCR changed the name of TRS to BRS to focus on national politics. However, after ruling the state for 10 years, the party lost power to Congress late last year.

KCR contested from two Assembly seats -- Gajwel and Kamareddy. He retained Gajwel but could not win Kamareddy. This was the first electoral defeat for the seasoned politician since 1985. KTR and Harish Rao retained their respective seats.

There were indications that Kavitha would again contest from Nizamabad but finally, KCR decided not to field her. She was recently arrested in the alleged Delhi excise policy case.

There was also speculation that KCR may contest Lok Sabha elections from Medak or Malakjgiri but the leader of the opposition decided to focus on state politics.