The Congress was expected to name four candidates, but it replaced its earlier pick in one seat, leading to the list containing five names.
Published Nov 09, 2023 | 11:39 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 09, 2023 | 11:40 PM
TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy campaigns for a party candidate in Telangana on Thursday, 9 November, 2023. (INCTelangana/X)
After much dilly-dallying, the Congress high command on Thursday, 9 November, released the fourth list of candidates — with five names — for the 30 November Assembly elections in Telangana.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary KC Venugopal said the Central Election Committee selected five candidates: Katta Sreenivas Goud for Patancheru, Mohammed Mujeeb Ullah Shareef for Charminar, Bathula Laxma Reddy for Miryalguda, Ramreddy Damodar Reddy for Suryapet, and Mandula Samual for the Thungathurthi Assembly constituency.
The Congress was expected to release the names of four candidates, but it replaced its earlier pick in one of the seats, leading to the list containing five names.
The Central Election Committee has selected the following persons as Congress candidates for the ensuing elections to Telangana Assembly. pic.twitter.com/HadYPmC6fz
— INC Sandesh (@INCSandesh) November 9, 2023
The Congress high command took ample time to finalise the candidates for these five constituencies because of stiff competition and internal differences while screening the names.
For instance, the party named Nilam Madhu Mudiraj, who quit the BRS and joined the Congress a few days ago, for the Patancheru constituency in its third list.
However, it party finalised the name of Katta Sreenivas Goud for the seat following much resistance to the earlier decision from leaders like former deputy chief minister Damodar Raja Narasimha.
In Suryapet, there was stiff competition between Congress leaders Damodar Reddy and Patel Ramesh Reddy. But the high command finalised the name of Damodar Reddy.
Similar was the situation in the Thungathurthi constituency. But here, the party finalised the name of Mandula Samual as it was unable to decide between Adhanki Dayakar and Mothkupalli Narasimhulu.
Of the five candidates selected by the party on Thursday, two belong to the Reddy community, one to the Backward Classes, one each to the Scheduled Castes, and one is from a minority community.
The Congress released the third list with 16 names on 6 November, while the second list with 45 candidates was released on 27 October. It released the first list with 55 names on 15 October.
