Bikumalli Manjula, the mother of Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu – one of 20 soldiers killed in a clash with Chinese troops in Ladakh in June 2020 – will make her electoral debut next week.
Manjula will contest the Suryapet municipal election on a Bharat Rashtra Samithi ticket.
Suryapet is the hometown of the colonel and his family.
After filing her papers Manjula spoke glowingly of party boss and ex-Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, saying the state witnessed remarkable progress when he was in charge.
Local body polls are due across Telangana on February 11. Voting will take place to fill nearly 3,000 seats across 123 local bodies, including municipal corporations and municipalities.
Results are expected two days later with mayoral and chairperson polls set for February 16.
In November 2021 Manjula received a Maha Vir Chakra – the second-highest wartime gallantry honour – on behalf of her son, who was the CO of the 16 Bihar Regiment when he was killed.
Colonel Babu had been tasked with establishing an observation post in face of the enemy and did so successfully, the citation noted, having organised his troops and executed his plan despite "stiff resistance from the adversary who attacked using lethal and sharp weapons…"
He was injured in the attack by the Chinese soldiers but "led from the front with absolute command and control despite hostile conditions to deter the vicious enemy attack…"
The citation noted Colonel Babu resisted the attack "till his last breath…"
The colonel's wife, B Santoshi, and Manjula received the award together.
In June 2021, a year after the tragic incident, a statue of the colonel was unveiled at Suryapet, which is about 140km from state capital Hyderabad.
Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed violently in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley in June 2020, leading to a prolonged military stand-off along the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border between the two nations. Heightened military tensions were eventually defused after multiple rounds of talks between the two armed forces and at the diplomatic level.
