Heavy Competition for Congress MP Tickets Delay Final List

 Hyderabad: Too many aspirants and the pressure exerted by ministers and senior party leaders to secure tickets for their family members have delayed the announcement of Congress final list for the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana.

TPCC chief and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on March 21 announced that the Congress would declare candidates for all Lok Sabha seats before Holi on March 25 but it looks unlikely as the AICC central election committee (CEC) is yet to convene a meeting with state leaders to discuss and finalise the candidates.

While the BJP has declared all its candidates and the BRS 16 for the 17 seats in Telangana stae, the Congress could declare candidates only for nine seats in two phases and kept the finalisation of names for eight seats pending. The final Congress list is now expected before March 30.

The selection of the candidate for the Khammam seat has become a bone of contention. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy hail from the district. Bhatti's wife Nandini and Srinvas Reddy's brother Prasad Reddy are in the race for the ticket. Both Bhatti and Srinivas Reddy are insisting on tickets for their family members.

Similarly, the Komatireddy brothers are seeking the Bhongir Lok Sabha ticket for one of their family members. Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy's wife Laxmi is in race for the Bhongir ticket. TPCC vice-president Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy who is also in the race.

The Mala-Madiga conflict has forced the party high command to keep the Warangal reserved Lok Sabha seat on hold. The Congress declared Mallu Ravi, brother of Bhatti, who represents Mala community among the SCs, as candidate for the Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha seat.

It also declared Gaddam Vamsi Krishna, son of Congress Chennur MLA Gaddam Vivek Venkataswamy, as candidate for the Peddapalli Lok Sabha seat, which is also reserved for the SC community. With this, there is a demand to allot the Warangal (SC) seat to a Madiga community candidate.