The applicants included — apart from key leaders of the party — former contestants, aspirants, industrialists, social workers, and caste association leaders.
Published Aug 25, 2023 | 11:00 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 25, 2023 | 11:01 PM
File photo pf Telangana Congress leader Uttam Kumar Reddy. (Supplied)
The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) received close to 1,000 applications for allotment tickets for 119 Assembly seats till the last day of submitting them: Friday, 25 August.
The applicants included — apart from key leaders of the party — former contestants, aspirants, industrialists, social workers, and caste association leaders.
According to Gandhi Bhavan sources, there were eight-nine applicants from each of the 119 Assembly segments. Several applied for tickets for more than one Assembly seat.
Those who applied for party tickets on Friday included CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy, his wife and former MLA Padmavathi Reddy, MLAs D Sridhar Babu, T Jayaprakash Reddy, D Anasuya alias Seethakka, campaign committee chairman Madhu Yashki Goud, CDC members Damoar Rajanarismha, former MP Ponnam Prabhakar, former Union minister Sarve Satyanarayana, and Balmuri Venkat.
Interestingly, former minister K Jana Reddy — a senior leader from the erstwhile Nalgonda district — did not apply for a ticket for any constituency.
After handing over his and his wife’s applications for Huzurnagar and Kodad, respectively, Uttam Kumar Reddy expressed confidence that the Congress would win more than 70 seats in the ensuing Telangana Assembly elections.
He said that the Telangana Assembly elections could be held on 30 November, and that a victory in these five states would be a major step for the Congress towards winning the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, making Rahul Gandhi the prime minister.
He also expressed confidence that the Congress would win all 12 seats in his Nalgonda district.
The Congress leader accused Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao of failing on all fronts. He said that the people of Telangana would teach the ruling BRS a fitting lesson in the coming elections.
He alleged that KCR did not provide the promised three acres of land to Dalits and tribals. He also said that the double-bedroom scheme was a scam, with only a few units being constructed and BRS leaders indulging in huge corruption to allot those units.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also accused KCR of cheating Muslims on the promise of 12 percent reservation. He said that KCR lied to the Assembly in 2014, claiming that he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had agreed to provide 12 percent reservation for Muslims.
He said that the 4 percent Muslim reservation given by the previous Congress regime was continuing and that the KCR government had not been able to increase it even by 1 percent.
Dismissing the claims of development being made by KCR, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that Telangana was number one only in per-capita debt, per-capita liquor consumption, and corruption.
He said that the per capita debt of Telangana at the time of its formation was about ₹18,157. With Telangana’s debts increasing to over ₹4 lakh crore, the per-capita debt has increased by almost five times to about ₹1.20 lakh.
He pointed out KCR had promised to make a Dalit the chief minister of Telangana. However, the Dalit leader who was made deputy chief minister in 2014 was denied a ticket in the recent elections.
The Madigas, another major Dalit community, were also not given any representation in the state Cabinet, he said, adding that not a single ticket was given to the Mudiraj community, an important BC community in Telangana.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also alleged that BRS MLAs were treating their constituencies as personal fiefdoms and engaging in widespread corruption.
He accused them of looting Telangana through the sand, land, mine, and wine mafias. He further alleged that BRS MLAs had formed “gangs of thieves” to control these mafias.
He also claimed that BRS leaders were misusing the police to harass political opponents and suppress dissent against their corruption.
The Congress leader also questioned the BRS government’s silence over Andhra Pradesh’s illegal drawing of Krishna water from Srisailam backwaters through the Pothireddypadu expansion project.
He said that this would cause huge losses to the farmers of undivided Nalgonda and Khammam districts.
