Cong picks assembly candidates for LS in Telangana

The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) which has tasted humiliating defeat in the hands of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the assembly elections four months ago has changed its strategy and come up with a list of 17 Lok Sabha candidates ahead of the ruling party. Also, the party picked some candidates who lost the Assembly elections based on their popularity and sympathy among the voters.

Making amends to its policy of not fielding any candidate that lost the election, the party has picked up Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Challa Vamsidhar Reddy, Mallu Ravi, Ramesh Rathod, TPCC working President A Revanth Reddy, P Balramnaik and Ponnam Prabhakar who fought the elections nominated for the Loksabha fight. The TPCC chief Capt Uttam Kumar Reddy is also contesting as a Loksabha candidate.

The surprise candidate is Revanth Reddy who lost the election from Kodangal to TRS. Initially, the party thought of fielding him from his home district Mahbubnagar, but the popular candidate chose Malkajigiri which has a major chunk of its geographic area in Hyderabad city. Similarly, former Madhu Yashki Goud who wanted to contest from Bhongir was made to contest from his home turf Nizamabad. The party wanted him in Nizamabad considering the fact the K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha, the sitting MP is contesting from there for the second time. The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) which has tasted humiliating defeat in the hands of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the assembly elections four months ago has changed its strategy and come up with a list of 17 Loksabha candidates ahead of the ruling party.

Another surprise is the selection of TPCC Chief Uttam Kumar Reddy who won the Huzurabad assembly seat in the recent elections. The party wanted him to contest from Nalgonda LS segment where the TRS will be fielding a strong Reddy candidate and former MP, Gutha Sukhender Reddy. The major disappointment for Congress is the refusal of former Indian Cricket Captain Azharuddin to contest against Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) for the Hyderabad Loksabha segment. The party fielded a novice Feroz Khan who lost recent assembly election from Nampally.

Meanwhile, two more prominent leaders in Telangana have changed their loyalty to other political parties looking for greener pastures. DK Aruna, a very prominent Congress leader from Telangana who lost the Assembly elections joined the BJP. She met Amit Shah on late Tuesday night in Delhi and is expected to contest from Mahbubnagar LS constituency as BJP candidate. Similarly, senior TDP leader Nama Nageswara Rao who also lost the Assembly elections joined TRS and is expected to contest from Khammam LS.