Congress rebels form Telangana Rebels Front; plough is party symbol

Hyderabad: As reported in these columns, Congress rebel candidates formed the Telangana Rebels Front on Saturday and held discussions with the Bahujana Left Front (BLF) led by the CPM for an alliance.

Rebels front leader and former minister Bode Janardhan said the BLF will contest 28 seats, and the Rebels Front would contest in about 40 other seats. The BLF comprises Left parties and Left-oriented organisations. The BLF extended support to balladeer Gaddar’s plans to contest against caretaker CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao at Gajwel. He later decided against contesting, and will only campaign against the TRS.

Mr Janardhan told this newspaper that all the front’s candidates would have a common election symbol. He said they had chosen ‘farmer with plough’ as their symbol and request the Election Commission to allot it to all Rebel Front candidates.

He said the front would contest from about 40 seats where the BLF is not contesting. If there is a BLF candidate, the Rebels Front nominee would withdraw from the contest. Mr Janardhan said that the front would identify the constituencies from there it would contest after discussed with the BLF.
Some Congress rebel candidates may withdraw their nominations, and how many rebels will actually be left in the fray will be known only after the last date of withdrawal of nominations on November 22.