Ticket war rocks Congress ahead of Telangana municipal elections

Infighting in the Telangana Congress has intensified ahead of the February 11 municipal elections, with ticket disputes triggering protests, rival claims over B-forms and threats of disciplinary action, exposing deep factionalism across districts

Hyderabad: Arguments and internal squabbles over party tickets ahead of elections are common across political parties, but few match the scale at which Congress leaders in Telangana have been fighting against one another. The internal turmoil within the party has rarely remained confined to party offices or Gandhi Bhavan, with even the high command in Delhi having felt the intensity of dissent from Telangana on several occasions.

If the Assembly, Parliament and gram panchayat elections reflected this trend, the municipal elections scheduled for February 11 are witnessing it with greater intensity. Almost every ward where the Congress is contesting has seen at least one instance of aspirants opposing the decisions of the party leadership. The infighting has spread further after the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee approved and issued B-forms to candidates recommended by the party’s screening committee.

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In Jinnaram of Sangareddy district, a woman Congress leader went to the extent of staging a sit-in protest at the local MPDO office, accusing party leaders of cheating her. Neelam Srilatha, who filed her nomination for the fourth ward of Jinnaram municipality, said the Congress issued the B-form to another woman from the same ward on Tuesday, the last day for withdrawal of nominations. She reached the MPDO office, where nominations were filed, and staged a protest alleging injustice. She also accused Congress leaders Srikanth Reddy and Vadla Krishna of cheating her by denying the B-form and vowed that she would ensure that no Congress leader would win the election in Jinnaram municipality.

In Jogulamba Gadwal, uncertainty prevails over the nominations of Congress candidates in seven wards of the 37-ward Gadwal municipality. BRS turncoat MLA Bandla Krishnamohan Reddy issued B-forms to his followers across all wards, while supporters of former Zilla Parishad chairperson Sarita Thirupathaiah have also claimed that the Congress offered them B-forms for seven wards. Chaos prevailed among Congress workers over who will be the final candidates.

In Jagtial, the tussle for dominance between senior Congress leader T Jeevan Reddy and Jagtial MLA Dr Sanjay Kumar intensified, with the party leadership allotting more tickets to the MLA’s group. Of the 50 divisions in Jagtial municipality, 29 tickets were allotted to Sanjay Kumar’s faction, while Jeevan Reddy’s followers received 21. While Jeevan Reddy conveyed his strong displeasure to the party leadership, his supporters gathered in large numbers at his residence and raised slogans in protest.

On the other hand, senior Congress leader T Jagga Reddy warned rebels of suspension if they continue in the fray despite repeated requests to withdraw their nominations. Multiple Congress leaders filed nominations for at least six wards in Sangareddy municipality, following which Jagga Reddy held discussions with them and persuaded several to withdraw. With a few refusing to relent, he issued a stern warning that they would be suspended from the party.