Congress maintains suspense over candidate for Huzurabad bypolls

HYDERABAD: The TRS and the BJP have declared their candidates for the Huzurabad byelection several weeks ago, but the Congress is yet to do so as the polling date was declared as October 30 on Tuesday.

There is wide interest in the name of the Congress candidate for the high-voltage contest. The Congress, however, has not yet decided whether it will select a local leader or pick a candidate from elsewhere in the state.

The state Congress had invited candidates to apply for the party’s ticket. Nineteen aspirants have applied, and their applications will be scrutinised in coordination with the district Congress committee.

Former minister Konda Surekha, former MP Ponnam Prabhakar, DCC president Kavvampally Satyanarayana, D. Sambaiah and Gudur Swamy Reddy are said to be strong contenders for the ticket.

Reportedly, the party leadership is encouraging Surekha to contest. She asked the party leadership to give three tickets for their family members in the 2023 Assembly elections in the undivided Warangal district area. She also made it clear that the party leadership would have to bear the poll expenses, reliable sources said.

Ponnam Prabhakar is being seriously considered for the bypoll. If the Congress opts for a local candidate, Swamy Reddy may be the candidate, the sources said.

If the Congress wants to field a candidate from the Scheduled Caste community, it may prefer either Kavvampally Satyanarayana or D. Sambaiah. The BJP and the TRS have fielded candidates from the Backward Classes — Etala Rajendar and Gellu Srinivas Yadav. 

TPCC election management committee chairman C. Damodar Rajanarsimha is coordinating the Huzurbad byelection. In the 2018 Assembly election, Padi Koushik Reddy, then with the Congress, got 60,121 votes. He has now joined the TRS

Considering its 2018 tally, the party hopes to put up a strong fight in a triangular fight against the TRS and the BJP. The massive defeat the Congress in the Dubbak and Nagarjunasagar byelections has only increased pressure on the party leadership to do well in Huzurabad.

With A. Revanth Reddy taking over the TPCC and attempting to activate the party cadre, political circles are waiting to see what effect it will have, and the byelection may well be the first test.