Hyderabad: The Congress high command declared Dr Kadiyam Kavya as the party's candidate for the Warangal Lok Sabha constituency on Monday. She had recently turned down the BRS nomination and joined the Congress with her father, BRS MLA Kadiyam Srihari.
The AICC's central election committee (CEC) met in Delhi on Monday to finalise the candidates for remaining four Lok Sabha seats in Telangana but declared the candidate only for Warangal seat in the fourth phase and kept Khammam, Karimnagar and Hyderabad seats pending.
Party sources said that consensus could not be reached on the selection of candidates for Khammam, Karimnagar and Hyderabad seats due to which the declaration of candidates was put on hold. The CEC is expected to meet in another two days to finalise candidates for the remaining three seats.
The party high command is undertaking fresh surveys in Khammam, Karimnagar and Hyderabad to assess the winnability of probable candidates. There is heavy competition for tickets for Khammam and Karimnagar Lok Sabha seats.
Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka is seeking a ticket for his wife Nandini while revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy is seeking a ticket for his brother Ponguleti Prasad Reddy.
R. Raghurami Reddy, the son of Congress former Warangal MP R. Surender Reddy, has emerged as a strong contender for the Khammam Lok Sabha seat. Raghurami Reddy's son has recently married the daughter of minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy.
For the Karimnagar seat, Teenmar Mallanna and former MLA A. Praveen Reddy, who gave up the Husnabad Assembly seat for Ponnam Prabhakar, and Velama leader V. Rajender Rao are in the race.
For the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, it is learnt that there are three aspirants.
Dr Kavya, the daughter of BRS senior leader and Station Ghanpur MLA, was declared as the BRS candidate for Warangal Lok Sabha seat on March 13. On March 29, she announced her withdrawal from contesting Lok Sabha polls as the BRS candidate from Warangal.
In a letter to BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Kavya cited recent allegations of corruption and phone tapping against the previous BRS regime behind her decision, adding that the allegations have lowered the party's prestige.
On Sunday, Dr Kavya along with Srihari joined the Congress in the presence of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and the AICC incharge for Telangana affairs, Deepa Das Munshi. Kavya secured Warangal Lok Sabha ticket within two days of joining Congress.
The Congress high command has so far declared candidates for 14 Sabha constituencies out of total 17 in four phases. In the first phase on March 8, it declared candidates for four Lok Sabha seats, which included Nalgonda (Kunduru Raghuveer Reddy), Mahabubnagar (Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy), Zahirabad (Suresh Shetkar) and Mahabubabad (P. Balram Naik).
In the second phase on March 21, it declared candidates for another five Lok Sabha seats, which included Peddapalli (Gaddam Vamshi Krishna), Malkajgiri (Sunitha Mahender Reddy), Secunderabad (BRS MLA Danam Nagender), Nagarkurnool (Mallu Ravi) and Chevella (BRS MP Gaddam Ranjith Reddy).
In the third phase on March 27, it declared candidates for four more constituencies, which included Nizamabad (MLC T. Jeevan Reddy), Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy (Bhongir), Neelam Madhu (Medak)) and Athram Suguna (Adilabad).
