Congress declares three candidates, including Vijayashanthi, for Telangana MLC elections under MLA quota

To also allot one seat to CPI under alliance, says AICC general secretary KC Venugopal

Hyderabad: The Congress high command on Sunday declared three candidates — Addanki Dayakar, Kethavath Shankar Naik and actor-turned-politician Vijayashanthi, to contest the biennial elections to the MLC elections under the MLAs quota.

The Congress also announced that it had decided to allot one seat to CPI under alliance, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said in a press release.

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Given the MLAs strength in the House, the Congress can secure four and the BRS can convincingly win one. The announcement of Vijayashanthi’s name as candidate left many, including Congress leaders, surprised.

The senior leader was hardly actively involved in any party programmes and was keeping a low key since the last few months. “This announcement has definitely stunned us,” said a senior leader from Gandhi Bhavan.

Leaders from different communities had aspired to contest the MLC elections under MLAs quota. Former MP Anjan Kumar Yadav had demanded that the Yadav community should be given priority and stated that any negligence would not be tolerated.

The names of former Indian cricket captain Mohd Azharuddin and Nampally MLA contested candidate Feroz Khan too did rounds in Gandhi Bhavan among the probables from minorities’ quota.

However, the Congress high command did not field any candidate from the minority community. Though former Minister Mohd Shabbir Ali was appointed as Advisor to the State government, there was a demand from the minorities to accommodate one leader from the community in the cabinet or offer an MLC seat. As candidates for the MLC elections have been announced, minorities are now pinning hopes of a berth in the cabinet expansion.

During the Assembly elections, the Congress had made a few assurances to its alliance partners, including the CPI and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) led by Prof M Kodandaram Reddy. The Congress had assured to offer two MLCs to CPI and one for TJS and against this, one seat was allotted to CPI, while the TJS chief was made an MLC.

The term of five MLCs, including Mohd Mahmood Ali, Satyavathi Rathod, Seri Subhash Reddy, Yegge Mallesham and Mirza Riyazul Hassan Effendi, will be concluding on March 29. Accordingly, a notification was issued for the biennial elections to MLCs under MLAs quota. The last for filing the nominations is March 10.