Former BRS Member Eatala Rajender Is The BJP Candidate From Malkajgiri (image-X/Eatala_Rajender)

Hailing from Kamalapur, Hanumkonda district of Telangana, Eatala Rajender pursued his education at Osmania University, obtaining a B.Sc. degree in 1984. He is married to Jamuna, the proprietor of Jamuna Hatcheries, and the couple has two children.

His political career began in 2003, when he joined the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). He garnered recognition as a student leader with a left-wing ideology. His electoral debut came in 2004, when he was elected as the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Kamalapur Assembly constituency. Eatala”s resounding victory over incumbent MLA Muddasani Damodar Reddy signalled the beginning of his impactful tenure in state politics.

Over the years, Eatala successfully contested multiple elections, representing various constituencies, including Kamalapur and Huzurabad. He served as the Finance Minister of Telangana from 2014 to 2018 before assuming the role of Health Minister for Telangana in 2019.

However, his ministerial tenure faced controversy in May 2021, when allegations of land encroachments surfaced against him and his family’s hatchery business. The allegations led to his dismissal by KCR from the state cabinet and his subsequent resignation from the BRS party. In June 2021, he joined the BJP, and won as the MLA once again from Huzurabad. However, in the 2023 assembly elections, Eatala lost in both the constituencies of Huzurabad and Gazewal as a BJP candidate.

Now, the politician has been fielded as the BJP candidate from Malkajgiri, which holds a significant electoral sway attributing to its large electoral base. Known to be the largest Lok Sabha constituency by the number of electors (as of 2019), Malkajgiri has been part of Andhra Pradesh and then became an integral part of Telangana post its formation in 2014.

In 2009, Congress candidate Sarvey Sathyanarayana secured 32 percent votes, winning the general elections in Malkajgiri, then in Andhra Pradesh. But he faced defeat in the 2014 elections as Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate Malla Reddy won the seat by a significant margin. Congress wrested the seat back in the 2019 elections through Anumula Revanth Reddy, the current chief minister of Telangana, who won around 38 percent votes.

The Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency includes Medchal, Quthbullapur, Kukatpally, Uppal, Lal Bahudar Nagar, and Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly as its legislative assembly segments.