Congress yet to announce candidates for eight constituencies

Amidst all these issues, the Congress is yet to announce candidates for the eight constituencies of Khammam, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Warangal, Bhongir, Medak and Hyderabad.

Hyderabad: Even as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have announced candidates for mopst of the Lok Sabha seats, the Congress is embroiled in internal bickering and is also facing criticism from different sections over lack of social justice in allotment of tickets for candidates and priority being accorded to turncoats

This apart, there is dissent among a few sections over the filling up of nominated posts. Amidst all these issues, the Congress is yet to announce candidates for the eight constituencies of Khammam, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Warangal, Bhongir, Medak and Hyderabad.

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Of the five candidates announced, three candidates, including Sunitha Mahender Reddy (Medchal Malkajgiri), Danam Nagender (Secunderabad) and Ranjith Reddy (Chevella) had joined the Congress recently from the BRS. Already, leaders within the Congress have raised objections over turncoats being given prominence in allotment of tickets.

A few have even questioned the rationale behind allotting more tickets to a few families within the party. After the MRPS and the Telangana Muslims Joint Action Committee openly criticised the Congress for favouring a few community leaders and for being biased towards others, the CPI state unit is also demanding the Congress to allot at least one seat under the alliance.

With the Nalgonda candidate already being announced by the Congress, the CPI is now hoping for the Bhongir seat, despite there being stiff competition among Congress leaders.

In this context, the Telangana Congress is trying to strike a balance with all sections by nominating candidates from different communities.

Among the 17 constituencies, three are reserved for SC, two for ST and the rest for General categories. For instance, there are reports that Mynampally Hanumanth Rao is keen to contest from Medak parliamentary constituency.

But party sources say leaders are vying the option of fielding Neelam Madhu, a BC community leader from the constituency.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is expected to convene its meeting on Wednesday in New Delhi to discuss candidates’ finalisation. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is expected to fly to New Delhi on Tuesday or Wednesday to attend the meeting.