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Telangana Cong leaders clueless
Telangana Congress Leaders Clueless. When the Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu announced the details of tie-up with the BJP on Sunday afternoon with BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar on one side and Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujral on the other, the Congress leaders from Telangana were cooling their heels at the AICC headquarters in Delhi.
- List of Assembly candidates not released yet
- Senior leaders trying to get tickets for their kin
- But, party insisting on one ticket-per-family norm
Congress will be going to polls without adequate preparation in spite of the fact that it has good chances of winning a majority of the seats and forming the government. Thanks to the AICC
Hyderabad: When the Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu announced the details of tie-up with the BJP on Sunday afternoon with BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar on one side and Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujral on the other, the Congress leaders from Telangana were cooling their heels at the AICC headquarters in Delhi.
The list of the candidates was finalized but it was not released to the media. Ponnala Lakshmaiah, the TPCC chief, and senior leader Jana Reddy were waiting in Delhi till Sunday afternoon for the top brass to turn up at the party headquarters to lend some clarity on the issue.
They finally returned to the city, hoping that the list will be cleared at least by Monday morning.
The list of the candidates has to be signed by one of the three office bearers – Congress president Sonia Gandhi, AICC general secretary in charge of AP Digvijay Singh and Oscar Fernandez of AICC Election Committee. All the three were said to be out of station on Sunday. During the last elections in 2009 also, the list of candidates was sent to the media without the signature of the persons concerned.
The AICC office wore a deserted look on Sunday except for the presence of Komatireddy brothers, Renuka Chowdary and some of the aspirants from Telangana. The AICC spokesperson was reading out from a hand-written list on Saturday when he was stopped midway by a phone call from Ahmed Patel, Political Secretary to the Congress president.
It is understood that the AICC leadership had stipulated one family-one ticket formula. But attempts are being made by senior leaders to get the formula relaxed in certain cases. Uttam Kumar Reddy, working committee president of TPCC, stayed back in Delhi with a hope to meet senior leaders. He is seeking a ticket for his wife Padma Reddy to contest from Kodada constituency. Uttam Kumar represents Huzurnagar constituency in the present Assembly. Jana Reddy also is understood to have pleaded for a ticket for his son Raghuram Reddy to contest from Miryalagudem. Jana Reddy will be contesting again from Nagarjuna Sagar.
Former Deputy Chief Minister Damodara Rajanarasimha also wants Sangareddy seat in Medak district for his wife Padmini. Sabita Indra Reddy’s son Kartik Reddy has been given Chevella Lok Sabha seat, so far represented by Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy. Sabita wants to contest from Maheswaram once again. But the seat is among those being earmarked for the CPI.
Ponnala Lakshmaiah himself has been asking for a ticket for his daughter-in-law Vaishali to contest from Warangal-West. Sankar Rao who would be contesting again from Cantonment would like a ticket for his daughter to fight from Chevella Assembly constituency.
D Srinivas, would be happy if his son Sanjay is accommodated in Nizamabad urban constituency. Sanjay is understood to have met Kishan Reddy, the BJP president on Sunday. He might join the BJP if Congress ticket is denied.
The leaders from AICC and Telangana met at war room and elsewhere a number of times only to finalise about 20 names. Out of 119 Assembly seats in Telangana, 45 are sitting MLAs who would be automatically getting renominated. There are about 35 candidates who lost in 2009. The AICC had decided to give them tickets once again. The party has entered into a tie-up with the CPI which has to be given nine Assembly seats beside Khammam Lok Sabha seat. Nine or ten seats will have to be left for MIM. This leaves just 20 seats for which the Congress leaders had to find new faces.
The party leadership had made a heavy weather of the selection process so much so that the party campaign has not yet been launched. While Chandrababu Naidu and K Chandrasekhar Rao KCR) of the TDP and the TRS respectively have been addressing big rallies, the Congress leaders have been shuttling between Hyderabad and Delhi. KCR has also released the names of more than 70 Assembly candidates and eight Lok Sabha candidates. The nominations have to be filed by April 9. There is no leader who is in charge of the show. No one is prepared to take the responsibility of organising public meetings. Election meetings would probably be planned only for Sonia Gandhi who is expected to visit Telangana on April 16. Rahul Gandhi would participate only in road shows. Congress will be going to polls without adequate preparation in spite of the fact that it has good chances of winning a majority of the seats and forming the government. Thanks to the AICC.
