Jubilee Hills bypoll sparks turf war among Congress aspirants

The Congress party in Telangana is grappling with internal discord and premature campaigning ahead of the Jubilee Hills by-election. Multiple aspirants have flooded the constituency with banners and events, defying party discipline and triggering caste-based divisions.

Hyderabad: The scramble among aspirants to contest the Jubilee Hills by-election has left the Congress leadership in Telangana uneasy. Even before the election notification is issued and the party finalises its candidate, several hopefuls have already taken to the streets.

Flexies, banners and hoardings have sprung up across colonies, with aspirants projecting themselves as candidates. Rajeevnagar, Yousufguda, Borabanda and other localities are dotted with publicity material from Congress leaders.

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On Saturday, former MP Anjan Kumar Yadav organised a free spectacles distribution camp in Rajeevnagar. Other aspirants, including corporator CN Reddy, Naveen Yadav and Kanjarla Vijayalaxmi, have also installed posters in different areas.

“I am a senior in the Congress and the party has confirmed a ticket for me.

That’s the reason I am conducting all these programmes in the constituency,” Anjan Kumar Yadav is heard saying in a video circulating on social media.

Despite the massive banners and flexies put up in colonies, neither GHMC nor HYDRAA has acted against the Congress leaders for defacement.

The Telangana Congress is concerned that the fierce competition could affect the party’s prospects in the bye-election. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has repeatedly asserted that the AICC would decide the candidate. He directed Cabinet Ministers, including Ponnam Prabhakar, Vivek Venkatswamy, Tummala Nageswara Rao and others, to focus on development works in the constituency.

In contrast to these instructions, internal differences among leaders have come to the fore. Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender and corporator P Vijaya Reddy have clashed on several occasions. The sharp divide among senior leaders, coupled with stiff competition among aspirants, threatens to further widen rifts within the party.

“Apart from local and non-local issues, the aspirants are now dividing the party cadre on caste lines. Beyond the Reddy vs Yadav divide, there are even clashes within the Yadav aspirants,” said a senior leader from Gandhi Bhavan.

Adding to the unease, a few surveys predicting poor performance by Congress in the by-election were circulated on social media. Reacting sharply, TPCC Media Communications Chairman Sama Rammohan Reddy warned agencies against spreading false results.

“Saidulu is in no way connected with the Congress party and his claims that the party hired to be conducted survey are false. The party has not appointed any psephologist officially,” he clarified in a statement.