After much dilly-dallying and hand-wringing, the Telangana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has finally announced Lankala Deepak Reddy as its candidate for the Jubilee Hills Assembly byelection -- scheduled for November 11.

Mr. Deepak Reddy, a former Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader, had contested unsuccessfully in the December 2023 Assembly elections, finishing third with 25,866 votes. The seat was won by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), whose candidate Manganti Gopinath defeated Congress nominee and former cricketer Mohd. Azharuddin by a margin of 16,337 votes. The byelection was necessitated due to the untimely demise of Gopinath.

Jubilee Hills falls under the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, currently represented by Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy. His influence was evident in the selection process, with even BJP Telangana president N. Ramchander Rao deferring the decision to Mr. Reddy, despite earlier claims that the party's election committee and central parliamentary board would make the final call.

Over the past few days, several names were floated, with senior leaders backing candidates from the Backward Classes (BC) and sons of former ministers from the Congress and TDP Governments, respectively. The internal lobbying spilled into the open when an MP publicly endorsed a former Mayor, much to the displeasure of Mr. Kishan Reddy, who did not like leaders from outside the capital region encroaching on his turf.

The party has struggled to find a candidate with the right credentials to project in the constituency though a few women from politically influential communities had evinced interest. It appears Mr. Deepak Reddy had been informally assured of the ticket earlier, as he had already began campaigning.

"Usually, we don't change candidates for a byelection, but the nomination must be approved by designated committees at the national level. That caused the delay," explained BJP chief spokesperson N.V. Subash, when contacted. All eyes are now on Mr. Deepak Reddy's performance in what is shaping up to be a direct contest between the Congress and BRS. The outcome could set the tone for the upcoming urban local body elections.

Lankala Deepak Reddy is BJP's candidate for Jubilee Hills byelection; party bets on him again