Families of Telangana martyrs, Muslims will get tickets: Jairam Ramesh

Karimnagar: Senior Congress leader and Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday said priority will be given to families of Telangana martyrs and Muslims while selecting candidates for the upcoming elections.

He also said if everything goes well, a Dalit might become the chief minister of new Telangana state. "A Dalit may become the chief minister. Making a Dalit the chief minister is the greatness of Congress party. Creating a state is not easy as agitating for a cause," he told reporters.

Replying to queries about issuing party tickets for the coming elections, Ramesh said priority would be given to families of Telangana martyrs and Muslims, like in Karnataka. Asked about former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, he said that Kiran was made chief minister directly from the post of an assembly speaker, though he did not have experience as a minister. "But he betrayed the Congress party". When asked about the possibility of alliance of Congress with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, Ramesh said that the matter of alliance with the TRS has not concluded and the high command will look at the issue.

"The Congress will be in the fray independently. We have public support in Telangana and we will win the race," he said. While concluding the press conference, he said that Sonia Gandhi was not "mata" (mother) of Telangana but its "nirmata" (creator).