Congress yet to zero in on Huzurabad bypoll candidate
Hyderabad: The widening rift in the opposition Congress over the appointment of ‘newcomer’ A Revanth Reddy as TPCC president has left the party in complete disarray, so much so that zeroing in on a candidate for the Huzurabad by-poll seems to be an uphill task for the party leadership. While TRS had officially announced the […]
Hyderabad: The widening rift in the opposition Congress over the appointment of ‘newcomer’ A Revanth Reddy as TPCC president has left the party in complete disarray, so much so that zeroing in on a candidate for the Huzurabad by-poll seems to be an uphill task for the party leadership.
While TRS had officially announced the candidature of Gellu Srinivas Yadav for the by-poll, BJP is expected to field Eatala Rajender who shifted his loyalty to the saffron party in the wake of allegations of his involvement in temple lands encroachment.
The Congress constituted a special committee under the leadership of former Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarsimha Rao to finalise the candidate for Huzurabad. Subsequently, there were murmurs of the party taking a serious look at former Minister Konda Surekha and Patti Krishna Reddy, but the stiff opposition from a section of party leaders to the duo stopped any further movement.
Later, in a move to dissipate the differences, the party sought applications from aspirants to contest the by-poll that led to over a dozen people staking their claim. The exercise to identify the candidate was expected to be completed by September 10 followed by a formal announcement. Neither has happened so far.
The reasons behind the inability to select a candidate are many, says a senior Congress leader, who went on to cite the example of Sangareddy MLA T Jagga Reddy’s outburst on the State leadership on Friday. “Such internal rifts definitely make the job of finalising the candidate much tougher,” the leader pointed out.
Besides, Revanth Reddy’s recent comments against Thiruvanathapuram MP and senior party leader Shashi Tharoor calling him a ‘donkey’ have not gone well with the party leadership even in New Delhi. Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy had openly expressed his displeasure over the TPCC president’s remarks, saying it was uncalled for.
The TPCC’s intemperate language and his antics like ‘White Challenge’ have also not been to the liking of Congress leaders, who see it as a new culture. Senior leaders including former TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, K Jana Reddy, Marri Shashidhar Reddy, the Komatireddy brothers, to name a few, have been maintaining a safe distance from Revanth Reddy.
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