Congress party’s Central Election Committee met in New Delhi on Wednesday night to finalise the candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, including eight from Telangana.
Sources said the party has cleared the candidates for Nizamabad and Karimnagar constituencies. Congress MLC T. Jeevan Reddy will contest from Nizamabad parliamentary constituency and Praveen Reddy gets the nod for Karimnagar LS seat, according to top Congress sources. But, the list of candidates is unlikely to be announced till March 31, a source said, adding that the CEC is again meeting on the day to finalise the tickets. Another leader said four names were cleared, but refused to specify the constituencies and the candidates.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy attended the meeting to clear the names. The Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister after attending the CEC meeting left for Hyderabad. The party has so far named nine candidates while it has sent few more names for the remaining seats such as Khammam, Bhuvanagiri, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Adilabad ST, Warangal SC, Medak and Hyderabad parliamentary constituencies.
State party leaders are also surprised why the CEC is taking so long to announce the names. They maintained that there was general consensus on majority of the seats barring two.
Khammam and Bhuvanagiri seats alone are causing delay for the party while the party seems to have come to a consensus on the candidates in other constituencies. The party, it is said, has recommended single names – Atram Suguna (Adilabad ST), Singapuram Indira (Warangal SC) and a Supreme Court woman lawyer for Hyderabad LS to take on AIMIM chief and sitting MP Asaduddin Owaisi. For Medak, Neelam Madhu is the frontrunner, party sources said, pointing out that he is a BC.
Interestingly, on Wednesday Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy sprang a surprise when he announced that he would fully support former MP and chairman of Campaign Committee Madhu Yaskhi Goud, if he was interested to contest from Bhuvanagiri seat. Mr. Yaskhi is said to have politely refused to fight the LS polls.
Mr. Rajagopal Reddy, party leaders said, tried to play a strategic game as his wife is also a serious contender for the Bhuvanagiri ticket. The fight is between her and TPCC vice-president Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is believed to have the strong backing of the Chief Minister.
The Khammam seat issue has almost been settled after Deputy CM’s brother and TPCC vice-president Dr. Mallu Ravi, who is presently the Special Representative of the Government in New Delhi, for Nagarkurnool seat clearing the decks for Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy’s brother Prasad Reddy to get the nomination. Mr. Bhatti’s wife Nandini too had tried hard but after Dr. Ravi’s announcement, the Deputy CM is said to have mellowed down.
