Most Congress leaders who protested also alleged that TPCC president A Revanth Reddy sold seat tickets for the Telangana Assembly election.
Congress party headquarters Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad. (Supplied)
The first list of candidates announced by Indian National Congress (INC) for Telangana assembly polls has left cracks in the state unit wide open.
Those members of the party who could not make the cut in getting tickets took to the streets on Sunday, 15 October, and called the state leaders names, vowing to ensure the defeat of those who had beaten them in the race.
Unable to ward off agitated activists from entering Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad, the Congress closed its gates.
However, the protestors continued to create a disturbance, hurling intemperate language at some leaders in the party.
Most of those who exhausted their lung power in venting out their spleen at the party leadership alleged that Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A Revanth Reddy had sold tickets.
In effect, they were echoing the suspicion that BRS working president KT Rama Rao expressed, that Congress tickets were on sale and that there would be a free-for-all at Gandhi Bhavan after the candidates’ list was out.
Dissent marred Telangana Congress after its very first list of candidates for seats considered least contentious — safe seats — for choice of candidates where the party expected little or no dissent.
Given the magnitude of dissent over a “safe” list, the Congress in Telangana is now bracing for more adverse impacts that could follow its next list of candidates for seats that are already contentious.
The party is said to be unable to arrive at a consensus on candidates in over 20 seats.
Meanwhile senior leaders of the party, in whose hearts an uneasy feeling lurked that they might be jettisoned as deadwood while the party finalised the second list, went into a huddle at former MP Madhu Yashki Goud’s residence and discussed what was in store for them.
Those who drove to his residence included former MPs Balaram Naik, Suresh Shetkar, and S Rajaiah.
They were unhappy and doubtful about the intentions of the party leadership since their names did not figure in the first list.
In a last-ditch effort, they sent a communication to the party high command that they should be given the importance they deserve.
Madhu Yashki is seeking a ticket for LB Nagar, Ponnam Prabhakar from Husnabad, Balaram Naik from Mahabubabad, and Suresh Shetkar from Narayankhed.
Meanwhile, Medchel Congress leaders staged a protest at Gandhi Bhavan seeking a ticket for S Harivardhan Reddy as the ticket for that seat had gone to Thotakura Vajresh Yadav.
Kuruva Vijaya Kumar of Gadwal staged a demonstration at the Martyrs’ Memorial in Hyderabad. He raised the slogan “Vote-for-note scam then and seat-for-note scam now”, targeting Revanth Reddy.
He alleged that Revanth Reddy sold the Gadwal Assembly ticket to a non-Congress leader who paid a bribe of ₹10 crore and 5 acres of land. The Gadwal ticket went to Saritha Tirupataiah, who joined the party only a few months ago from the BRS.
Vijaya Kumar also alleged that Revanth Reddy sold 65 tickets for ₹600 crore, and slammed him for ignoring those who took part in the Telangana movement.
He demanded that the party leadership should revisit the entire first list. He alleged that Revanth Reddy’s supporters were threatening to kill him if he did not keep quiet, and demanded protection from the police.
In a related development, TPCC secretary and state leader Puduri Jitender Reddy resigned from the party along with his supporters in Uppal.
Later, they set fire to an effigy of Revanth Reddy. He said that Revanth Reddy was not worthy of the position he was holding.
On Sunday, after the release of the list, Muslim minority leaders created a ruckus as the party’s senior vice-president Mallu Ravi was holding a press conference. They kept raising slogans demanding justice. They threw the chairs helter-skelter.
They were unhappy that the Old City tickets went to those who did not have anything to do with the constituencies for which they were nominated.
In Kollapur, Chintapalli Rajeswar, who was expecting the party ticket, went into a rage. He removed the Congress posters from the walls and made a bonfire in protest against the allotment of the ticket to former minister Jupally Krishna Rao, who joined the Congress recently. He vowed to ensure Krishna Rao’s defeat in the election.
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