Hyderabad: Cong debutants to lock horns with BRS biggies

Hyderabad: Congress Party’s new faces will be taking on the BRS bigwigs in the upcoming Assembly elections.

In the GHMC area party candidates Kota Neelima (Sanathnagar), T Vajresh Yadav (Medchal) and Adam Santosh Kumar (Secunderabad) will be locking horns with Ministers Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Ch Malla Reddy and Deputy Speaker T Padma Rao Goud respectively. The wife of AICC leader and MP Pawan Khera, the former journalist-turned politician Neelima has been aggressively campaigning in the constituency. She has remained the top choice for the party for some time.

Vajresh Yadav, also known as Jangaiah, is the PCC vice- president and party Medchal constituency in-charge. He is busy conducting padayatras and meeting people to win the contest. Adam Santhosh Kumar, the PCC general secretary, is engaging voters of his constituency with programmes like ‘Basti Poru’ for the past few months.

Former BRS leader Mynampally Hanumanth Rao who recently shifted loyalties to the Congress will be contesting for the first time in the elections on party ticket from Malkajgiri. He will be taking on Marri Rajasekhar Reddy, the son-in-law of Labour Minister Malla Reddy.

In the constituencies under the GHMC limits the Congress has declared the first list of 13 candidates from the list of 55-candidates across the State. Former MP M Anjan Kumar Yadav (Musheerabad), Mohammed Feroz Khan (Nampally) and Osman Bin Mohammed Al-Hajri (Karwan) are known faces in political circles.

While Anjan Kumar has served as Secunderabad MP, the other two had contested earlier from the same constituencies. State president of Mahila Congress Mogili Sunitha is the second woman contestant who will be contesting from Goshamahal. She is known for leading demonstrations on various issues, particularly women related. The other candidates who represent the Reddy community are M Parameshwar Reddy (Uppal) and KolanHanmanth Reddy (Qutbullapur).

Interestingly, the Congress has decided to field some non-Muslim faces from the Old City. K Ravi Raju (Yakutpura), Boya Nagesh (Chandrayangutta) and Shaikh Akbar (Malakpet). This according to leaders will be a shift in strategy to get maximum Hindu votes to regain ground lost to the BJP in parts of the Old City. The aim of the party is to increase its vote share and shape political dynamics for the general elections.