Congress in turmoil in Karimnagar

Both Rajender Rao and Praveen Reddy have been attempting for the Karimnagar ticket.

Karimnagar: Though the Congress has not yet announced a candidate for Karimnagar parliament segment, two Congress leaders – Velichala Rajender Rao and former MLA Aligireddy Praveen Reddy – filed their nominations.

While Rajender Rao filed his nomination on Monday, followers of Praveen Reddy submitted papers on behalf of the former MLA on Wednesday. Praveen Reddy himself is set to file another set on Thursday, the last day for filing nominations for the parliament elections. Though it is not new for the Congress party to face rebels within the party, the Karimnagar incident is a fresh one after the party came to power in the State.

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Both Rajender Rao and Praveen Reddy have been attempting for the Karimnagar ticket. Even though the party has not officially announced a candidate, Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar participated in Rajender Rao’s nomination filing.

Besides the minister, MLAs from Assembly constituencies under Karimnagar parliament constituency including Adi Srinivas (Vemulawada), Medipally Satyam (Choppadandi) and Dr Kavvampalli Satyanarayana (Manakondur) also participated. Following objections from various quarters, the Minister on Tuesday clarified, saying that he had participated based on instructions of the party leadership. Prabhakar hinted that the party would announce Rajender Rao as its candidate soon.

However, Praveen Reddy also filed his nomination. The former legislator is reportedly determined to contest as a rebel candidate if the party denies a ticket to him. He is unhappy with the party leaders for encouraging Rajender Rao by breaking a pre-poll agreement reportedly made when Prabhakar had contested from Husnabad Assembly constituency that he would be supported for the Karimnagar LS seat.