Telangana Key Constituencies 2023: As results will be known on Sunday (December 3), all eyes are on the country’s youngest state Telangana, which will witness whether the BRS gets a second stint or the resurgence of the Congress. Polling across the 119 seats in Telangana took place on November 30. It began at 7 AM amid tight security arrangements, and concluded at 4 pm in 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected constituencies, while in the rest 106 others, people could vote till 5 pm. As soon as polling concluded, exit polls were out, where a majority of the surveys have predicted advantage for the Congress. The fate of the 2,290 candidates in fray have been sealed as polling concluded.
Also Read: Telangana Election 2023: Full list of BRS, BJP, Congress candidates and constituencies
As the stage is all set to witness who wins the elections, here’s a list of the key faces in Telangana Elections 2023:
K Chandrashekar Rao – Gajwel and Kamareddy seats
Gajwel assembly constituency, a General category assembly seat, is situated in Medak district and is one of the seven assembly segments of Medak Parliament Seat. Incumbent Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao, 69, popularly known as KCR, is aiming for a hat-trick in the upcoming polls, and is contesting from two seats – Gajwel and Kamareddy. An eight-time MLA, KCR has won from the Siddipet seat six times from 1985 to 2004, and from Gajwel in 2014 and 2018. He also been a six-time MP too.
K T Rama Rao – Sircilla seat
K T Rama Rao, 47, popularly known as KTR, is KCR’s son and Telangana’s IT, Industries, and Municipal Administration Minister. He is contesting from the Sircilla seat in the 2023 Telangana elections. KTR made his debut in electoral politics in 2009 when he contested and won from the Sircilla seat. He has since won four times from there, including a bypoll.
Also Read: Telangana Exit Poll Results 2023 Highlights: Congress has edge, BRS to follow, predict surveys
T Harish Rao – Siddipet seat
KCR’s nephew and five-time MLA T Harish Rao is contesting from Siddipet constituency. He is the Finance and Health Minister in the ruling BRS government. He is pitted against Doodi Srikanth Reddy of the BJP and Poojala Harikrishna from Congress.
Talasani Srinivas Yadav – Sanath Nagar seat
BRS leader and Minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Dairy Development Corporation and Cinematography Talasani Srinivas Yadav is one of the key faces in Telangana elections 2023. He is a popular leader among the BC (Backward Classes) communities, which make up about 52 per cent population in the state.
A five-time MLA, Talasani is a former TDP leader who was once close to its chief Chandrababu Naidu. He won on the TDP ticket from Secunderabad in 1994, 1999, and 2004. He won again from Sanathnagar on the TDP ticket in 2014, but later joined the BRS. He contested in December 2018 again on the BRS ticket from Sanathnagar and won. In February 2019, he was appointed as a minister.
T Raja Singh – Goshamahal seat
The Goshamahal seat in the Hyderabad old city consists of a sizeable population of Muslim voters. T Raja Singh is seeking re-election from the Goshamahal constituency. He was also suspended by the BJP in August 2022 over his alleged remarks against the Prophet, however, a year later, ahead of the polls, he was reinstated as the party’s member in October.
Revanth Reddy – Kodangal seat
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President Revanth Reddy is contesting from two constituencies in the 2023 Telangana elections – Kodangal and Kamareddy. Reddy is pitted against the might of Chief Minister KCR in Kamareddy. He faces sitting MLA Patnam Narender Reddy in Kodangal from the BRS. Two-time TDP MLA from Kodangal, Revanth Reddy contested the 2018 assembly election on a Congress ticket but lost to BRS candidate Patnam Narender Reddy. He, however, went on to win the Lok Sabha election from Malkajgiri, whereas in Kamareddy, he is contesting for the first time against chief minister Rao.
Akbaruddin Owaisi – Chandrayangutta seat
Akbaruddin Owaisi is seeking re-election from the Chandrayangutta Assembly seat. He is the younger brother of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi. The 53-year-old Akabaruddin Owaisi is a five-time MLA from Chandrayangutta, a seat that he has been winning since 1999, and is the AIMIM’s floor leader in the Telangana Assembly. He has also held the post in the Assembly of undivided Andhra Pradesh since 1999. Akbaruddin is a popular figure among major sections of the Muslim youth because of his provocative speeches, which are delivered in chaste Urdu.
Eatala Rajender – Gajwel and Huzurabad
Former minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Eatala Rajender is taking on KCR at Gajwel, while fighting for retaining his actual seat at Huzurabad. He is among the three candidates who are fighting on three seats in the Telangana elections 2023. After Rajender was shunted out of the BRS (then TRS) in June 2021, Kaushik Reddy joined the BJP. In Huzurabad, the BRS has fielded Rajender’s arch rival Padi Kaushik Reddy.