Hyderabad: Most of the senior leaders in Telangana Congress who were denied tickets to contest Assembly polls have decided to work unitedly for the victory of the party's official candidates, thanks to the unstinted efforts of AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal in successfully pacifying the disgruntled leaders.
The announcement of final list of candidates for Assembly polls late on Thursday sparked rebellion in the party as well as protests by Congress workers in a few constituencies. However, it was subdued within no time due to the swift action by K.C. Venugopal. He not only held one-on-one meetings with disgruntled leaders prior to announcement of final list on Thursday but also spoke to rebel leaders over phone who decided to file nominations on the last day on Friday after their names were missing from the three lists announced earlier.
Venugopal, who arrived in the city on Thursday convinced disgruntled leaders not to file nominations and also convinced those to withdraw nominations who already filed. He held one-on-one meetings with few leaders and reached out to a few other leaders over phone all through the night and until the wee hours of Friday.
All the major leaders withdrew their plans to contest as rebels or switch over to other parties after Venugopal told them that Congress is going to come to power in Telangana in December. He assured them that the party leadership will take care of the political future of all the leaders who were denied tickets due to political and caste equations by giving them Lok Sabha tickets besides nominating them as MLCs, Rajya Sabha members and other nominated posts in the government.
Venugopal held a meeting with Sangareddy MLA T. Jagga Reddy, who was upset at party leadership changing candidature of Neelam Madhu Mudiraj from Patancheru at the last minute. He explained reasons for changing candidate at the last minute and urged him to work for the victory of Kata Srinivas Goud.
Former minister G. Chinna Reddy, who was replaced with a new candidate in Wanaparthy, also announced to work for the party's victory after holding talks with Venugopal.
Former minister Balram Naik and Bellaiah Naik, national vice chairman, ST wing, Congress, who were denied tickets were offered MP tickets in Lok Sabha polls to be held in 2024.
Venugopal also held meetings with Vijaya Bhai, who sought Wyra ticket, Shivasena Reddy, who sought Wanaparthy ticket, Venkat Balmoor, NSUI state president, who sought Huzurabad ticket, and convinced them to work for party's victory in Assembly polls.
Venugopal had meetings with Nuthi Srikanth, N.Preetham, Gali Anil Kumar, Challa Narasimha Reddy, Parajitha Narasimha Reddy, ex-MLC Ramulu Naik, Aamer Javed, Sanjeeva Reddy, Naresh Jadav among others. All of them said that they will ensure party's victory in their respective constituencies by working closely with party candidates.
