Hyderabad, April 18 (IANS) BJP National Vice President D. K. Aruna and former state minister Eatala Rajender filed their nominations for Mahabubnagar and Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seats respectively, on Thursday.

Soon after the process for receiving nominations began at 11 a.m. following the poll notification issued by Election Commission of India, Aruna filed her papers before the Returning Officer at Mahabubnagar Collectorate.

BJP MP K. Laxman and other leaders were also present. Aruna performed puja at a temple and signed the nomination papers before leaving for the Collector’s office to file her papers.

In 2019, Aruna lost the election from the same seat to Manne Srinivas Reddy of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) by a margin of over 77,000 votes. BRS has renominated Srinivas Reddy while Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy is once again contesting on a Congress ticket.

BJP’s Eatala Rajender filed his nomination for Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat at Medchal Collectorate, after performing puja at his residence, together with his family members. He also visited a temple in Shameerpet and placed his nomination papers at the feet of the deity.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri visited Rajender’s house before the latter left for a rally to file his nomination papers.

Rajender had suffered defeat in Huzurabad Assembly constituency in the recent elections. In 2021, he was re-elected from Huzurabad in a byelection as BJP candidate. He had resigned as MLA and quit BRS after then Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao dropped him from the Cabinet following allegations of land grabbing. He joined BJP and emerged as a key figure after winning the byelection.

In Malkajgiri, Rajender is pitted against Sunitha Mahender Reddy of Congress and Ragidi Laxma Reddy of BRS.

In 2019, the Malkajgiri seat was won by A. Revanth Reddy, who later became the President of state Congress, and recently became the Chief Minister following Congress' victory in Assembly elections.