Muddasani Kodandaram, also known as Prof. Kodandaram is a political activist and political leader. He is the founder of political party Telangana Jana Samithi, which was formed in March 2018. He was also the Chairman of the Telangana Joint Action Committee (T-JAC), which was formed with the goal of achieving a separate Telangana state in India.
This elections M Kodandaram is all set to make his electoral debut from Jangaon assembly segment, as the Congress president Rahul Gandhi has cleared the way for Telangana Jana Samithi. Mr Kodandaram too has agreed to contest from the Jangaon seat, which is currently held by Muthireddy Yadagiri Reddy of the TRS.
However, leaving Jangaon to the TJS chief may see a backlash from Congress party’s BC leaders. Irrigation minister T Harish Rao of TRS is reportedly in touch with former PCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah, but the latter has denied it.
According to the report published in Times of India, Mr Ponnala who is a four-time MLA from Jangaon is competing for the Congress ticket again. Sources said Ponnala would be made to keep quiet with an offer of deputy CM position, MLC or Rajya Sabha nomination.
Ponnala Lakshmiah while dismissing the talk as rumours said, ‘Cong won’t deny ticket to BC leader’ I am confident that the Congress party will not deny the ticket to a senior BC leader like me as it would send a wrong message to the BC’s who comprise 56 per cent of the population in Telangana. I had told the party leadership and the screening committee that I would contest. In such a case, there is no question of the seat being given to anyone. I have not received any official communication from the party in this regard.”
It may be mentioned that the TJS, which dilly-dallied for a long time on deciding whether Kodandaram should devote his time to campaign in 119 constituencies or contest, finally decided that the party leader should take the electoral plunge.
TJS official spokesperson G Venkat Reddy when contacted said, “The party leaders are of the view that Kodandaram should contest and win with a huge margin to give a befitting reply to CM KCR who had said that the TJS chief cannot win even a sarpanch election. Also, the core committee felt that Kodandaram should lead from the front.”