The list has the unmistakable stamp of TPCC president Revanth Reddy, as a majority of the candidates happen to be from his camp.
File photo of Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy (X)
After protracted talks, marathon sessions, and days of deliberations at various levels, the Congress on Sunday, 15 October, released its first list of candidates for 55 Assembly seats. The Telangana Assembly elections are scheduled for 30 November.
The list has the unmistakable stamp of TPCC president Revanth Reddy, as a majority of the candidates happen to be from his camp.
As many as 12 newcomers have been given tickets in the first list, a move that is sure to cause heartburn among the aspirants in these segments.
Already in Kolhapur, ticket aspirant Chintala Jagadeswara Rao’s supporters set fire to party cutouts and flags in protest against the allotment of the ticket to former minister Jupalli Krishna Rao, who joined the Congress from the BRS.
As many as 17 Reddys, seven Velamas, and 12 people from the Backward Classes (BCs) were among those who got tickets.
The Indian National Congress has released the first list of candidates for the Telangana Assembly elections, 2023. pic.twitter.com/KH2CzHK4iV
— Congress (@INCIndia) October 15, 2023
Telangana Congress president A Revanth Reddy, as expected, will contest from his home constituency of Kodangal.
Sitting BRS MLA Mynampalli Hanumnatha Rao, who joined the grand old party recently, secured the ticket for Malkajgiri, while his son Rohit Rao got the party’s approval to contest from Medak.
Tickets to father-son duo is in direct contradiction to AICC’s Udaipur Nav Sankalp declaration that insisted on one ticket for one family unless the second aspirant had five years of organisational experience.
Former MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and Thummala Nageswara Rao’s names are missing from the first list: Both have been seeking a ticket from Paleru.
MPs Uttam Kumar Reddy and Komatireddy Venkata Reddy will contest from Huzurnagar and Nalgonda, respectively, while Uttam Kumar Reddy’s wife Padmavathy will contest from Kodad.
All the sitting MLAs of the Congress have been renominated: They are D Sridhar Babu (Manthani), T Jagga Reddy (Sangareddy), Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka (Madhira), Danasari Anasuya alias Sitakka (Mulugu), Podem Veeraiah(Bhadrachalam) and MLC T Jivan Reddy (Jagtiyal).
Former MLA Thumukunta Narasa Reddy will contest against Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao at the latter’s home constituency of Gajwel.
In the 2018 Assembly elections, it was Vanteru Pratap Reddy who contested on a Congress ticket against KCR and lost. Pratap Reddy later joined the BRS.
Interestingly, Narasa Reddy, who was in the BRS, joined the Congress later on and is now pitted against KCR.
Former minister Jupalli Krisha Rao, who left BRS and joined the Congress recently, will be contesting from his home constituency Kollapur, while senior Congress leader K Jana Reddy’s son K Jayaveer will be in the fray from Nagarjuna Sagar.
BRS MLC Kasireddy Narayana Reddy, who recently switched loyalty to the Congress, is being fielded from Kalwakurthy, while BRS MLC Kuchukulla Damodar Reddy’s son Rajesh Reddy got the party nomination for Nagarkurnool.
Other important leaders who are contesting as Congress nominees are: Kota Neelima (Sanathnagar), Anjan Kumar Yadav (Musheerabad), C Damodar Rajanarasimha (Andole), Adi Srinivas (Vemulawada), P Sudarshan Reddy (Bodhan), K Prem Sagar Rao (Mancherial), Gaddam Vinod (Bellampally), Vemula Veeresham (Nakrekal), Donthi Madhava Reddy (Narasampet), and SA Sampath Kumar (Alampur).
As the talks with the Communists have not yet concluded, it is not yet known how many seats the CPI and the CPI(M) would get.
They had sought five seats each, but the Congress has offered them two each, to which they are understood to have agreed grudgingly. But there is no agreement on which seats they will be getting.
The Congress is reportedly offering Kothagudem and Chennur to the CPI, which has been insisting on Bellampally instead of Chennur.
Similarly, the CPI(M) is demanding Paleru and Miryalaguda, but the Congress is not ready to let Paleru go as former MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and former Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao have set their sights on it.
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