Congress protests spread across Telangana as party workers say Revanth sold tickets

In Hyderabad, tension prevailed near the residence of TPCC president A Revanth Reddy, when the followers of senior Congress leader Kata Srinivas Goud tried to stage a protest near his house for allotting the Patancheru Assembly constituency ticket to Neelam Madhu instead of Goud

Hyderabad: Disgruntled Congress leaders and their supporters on Tuesday have launched protests across the State after they were denied tickets in the fourth list of candidates released by the Congress on Monday.

In Hyderabad, tension prevailed near the residence of TPCC president A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday, when the followers of senior Congress leader Kata Srinivas Goud tried to stage a protest near his house for allotting the Patancheru Assembly constituency ticket to Neelam Madhu instead of Goud. The decision of the Congress leadership to give ticket to Madhu has evoked strong opposition from Srinivas Goud, who had unsuccessfully contested on Congress ticket in the 2018 election.

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Madhu had resigned from the BRS last month after he was denied a ticket and joined the Congress party. Goud’s followers alleged that Revanth Reddy sold tickets for crores of rupees to Neelam Madhu. They also staged a protest at Gandhi Bhavan demanding the party leadership to allot the Patancheru seat to their leader. Police detained the protestors and whisked them away.

Former minister G Chinna Reddy too was pained after he was replaced by Tudi Megha Reddy from Wanaparthy constituency. On Tuesday, he visited Gandhi Bhavan along with his followers and registered his protest.

In Kodangal, Congress leader Bellaiah Naik Tejavath has threatened to sit on an indefinite hunger strike at Gandhi Bhavan if he is not allowed to contest instead of Revanth Reddy. Revanth Reddy is contesting from Kodangal and also from Kamareddy. Tejavath said since the party did not accept his requests to field him from Mahabubabad or Dornakal or Yellandu, he was demanding a ticket from Kodangal.

There is protest in Kothagudem too, with the Congress decision to allot the Kothagudem seat to the Communist Party of India (CPI) going down well with local leaders. Former union Minister Renuka Chowdary too has argued that the seat should be kept within the Congress party itself.