Congress starts campaign for Karimnagar LS without candidate

Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar has begun the campaign for the party victory in Karimnagar segment though there was no candidate.

Karimnagar: A peculiar situation is prevailing in Karimnagar congress party since campaign for Karimnagar Lok Sabha elections is being carried out without the candidate’s name being announced. Though the nomination process for the parliament elections began on Thursday, the party has not yet finalised its candidate.

Interestingly, the party leaders especially Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar has begun the campaign for the party victory in Karimnagar segment though there was no candidate. He organized Manakondur and Huzurabad assembly constituencies’ party workers meeting at Alugunur on town outskirts on Thursday. On Friday, he interacted with morning walkers at Ambedkar stadium.

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Party workers claim that Velichala Rajender Rao, son of veteran congress leader Velichala Jagapathi Rao, is sure to be the candidate. However, his name was not announced officially.

Though Rajender Rao is also participating in the campaign along with Prabhakar, the minister is not even giving hints about Rajender Rao’s candidature. Except few, the congress has announced candidates for almost all constituencies. However, it is unable to come to a conclusion on Karimnagar, which is a vital segment in north Telangana.

Congress seems to have not learnt a lesson from the assembly election. Party had announced candidates for Karimnagar assembly seat in the last moment. So, the aspirants could not have enough time to campaign. As a result, the party lost the seat though it won eight out of 13 assembly segments in the erstwhile Karimnagar district.

Congress could face a similar situation if it further delayed the announcement of candidate, party sources apprehend. Though a few other leaders applied for Karimnagar parliament ticket, the names of former MLA Aligireddy Praveen Reddy and Rajender Rao were making the rounds among the party circles right from the beginning.