Till the other day, former minister and senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader Tummala Nageshwar Rao had been a sulking politician in Khammam district, as he was feeling completely sidelined in the party.
With his political rival Kandala Upender Reddy, who contested on the Congress party ticket and defeated him in 2018 assembly elections in Palair assembly constituency, defecting to the BRS later, Tummala’s dominance in the Khammam politics has virtually come to an end.
Though the former minister has been able to have his own cadre support, the party high command has been largely ignoring him for the last three years.
At one stage, there was a talk that Tummala might desert the BRS and defect to the Congress or the BJP.
But suddenly, the BRS leadership has started pampering him in the last few weeks.
Both chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his son K T Rama Rao held negotiations with him and started praising him.
He was given a lot of importance during the Bhadradri Kothagudem visit of KCR and was entrusted with the task of making the Khammam meeting of BRS a success.
Sources said KCR had promised to give the BRS ticket to Tummala from his native constituency Palair, instead of Kandala Upender Reddy.
He was also reportedly promised a senior position in the state executive of the BRS.
Why is this sudden change in the stand of the BRS leadership? According to sources, the main reason for KCR suddenly pampering Tummala was the entry of YSR Telangana party president Y S Sharmila in Khammam district.
Sharmila held a public meeting at Palair last month and announced that she would be contesting the assembly elections from the constituency. Intelligence reports suggested that she might win the seat comfortably as it has a big number of settlers.
Moreover, the Congress party also might extend a secret support to Sharmila to win the seat.
At the same time, the public talk against Kandala Upender Reddy is negative and the BRS leadership realised that he might lose with a big margin against Sharmila.
That is precisely why KCR looked up to Tummala, who has considerable hold over Palair and nurtured the constituency all these days.
His contest from Palair will also have an impact on the adjacent constituencies and he can ensure the victory of at least five to six seats in Khammam.
So, Sharmila’s entry has come as a blessing in disguise for Tummala!