On October 30, Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, a member of the Telangana\’s ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), was subjected to a knife attack during a campaign event in Doulatabad, a region within the Siddipet district of the state. Following the assault, he was swiftly transported to a nearby private hospital, where his condition was reported to be stable.
Reddy currently represents Telangana\’s Medak parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha. He has been selected as the party\’s candidate for the upcoming Assembly elections in the Dubbak constituency, under the leadership of K Chandrasekhara Rao.
According to reports, the attack took place in Surampalli village, Doulatabad, while Reddy was actively campaigning. BRS workers apprehended the assailant and, reportedly, engaged in a physical confrontation with him before surrendering him to local law enforcement.
An official investigation into the incident has been initiated, with confirmation from police authorities. Local media sources have identified the assailant as Raju, a resident of Chepyal village in the same district. The motive behind the attack has not yet been disclosed.
As reported by The Hindu, Reddy was subsequently transferred to a hospital in Hyderabad for further medical attention. The newspaper indicated that he sustained stab wounds to the abdomen.
This incident occurred approximately one month before the scheduled voting in the state\’s 119 Assembly seats on November 30. The BRS leader and Chief Minister, K Chandrasekhara Rao, are seeking a third term in office.
Pre-election surveys suggest that the Congress, which suffered significant losses in the previous elections, has emerged as the primary opposition to the BRS. In a recent C-Voter survey, the Congress was projected to secure between 48 and 60 seats, while the BRS was expected to win between 43 and 55 seats. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the national level was anticipated to secure 5 to 11 constituencies, according to the opinion poll.