All 3 Congress MPs from Telangana among 700+ applicants for Assembly tickets

HYDERABAD: Over 700 people have applied for a Congress ticket for the upcoming Assembly elections in Telangana. Over the last one week, several senior Congress leaders submitted applications for tickets. The deadline for applications ended by 5 PM on Friday.

Among the major applicants, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President A Revanth Reddy filed for a ticket from the Kodangal constituency, while former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir wanted to take on Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in Kamareddy. Revanth Reddy, who was a former MLA from Kodangal, is currently a Member of Parliament of Malkajgiri constituency. The TPCC chief decided to enter the fray from Kodangal in Vikarabad district on the direction of the party's high command. 

He is the one of three Congress MPs after Uttam Kumar Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy to apply for an Assembly ticket. Uttam Kumar, who is a Lok Sabha member from Nalgonda, had already announced that he would contest the Assembly election from Huzurnagar. Meanwhile, Bhuvanagiri MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy applied for a Congress ticket from Nalgonda Assembly segment.

Senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir applied for a party ticket from Kamareddy. He would be pitted against Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), who would be contesting from Kamareddy as well as Gajwel, a seat that the CM won in 2018. Shabbir, who was elected from Kamareddy in 1989 and 2004, had lost the last four consecutive elections to Gampa Govardhan of BRS.

Among other senior leaders, Uttam Kumar's wife Padmavathi had filed for a ticket from Kodad. Former ministers Ponnala Lakshmaiah and Jeevan Reddy too applied for tickets from the Jangaon and Jagtial constituencies respectively. Former minister K Jana Reddy’s sons Raghuveer Reddy and Jayaveer Reddy had submitted an application for a ticket from Nagarjuna Sagar constituency.

Other leaders who filed their nominations included Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy from Khammam, Kothagudem and Palair, Madhu Yaskhi from LB Nagar, Mohammad Azharuddin from Jubilee Hills, Konda Surekha from East Warangal, Bandaru Srikanth from Gajwel and Sunitha Rao from Khairatabad, Palavai Sravanti from Munugode and Vishnuvardhan Reddy from Jubilee Hills.

Apart from Congress leaders, BRS MLA from Khanapur ST constituency, Rekha Naik, who was denied a ticket by KCR, applied for a ticket even before she had officially joined the party. In a surprising application, singer Rahul Sipligunj. of 'Naatu Naatu' fame, applied for a Congress ticket from Goshamahal constituency in Hyderabad.

Revanth Reddy said that the names of the applicants shortlisted by the State election committee would be sent to the screening committee. The screening committee would analyse the list and after filtering, send the selected names to the party's central election committee. If the central election committee is unable to decide on the candidates, the names would be forwarded to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) for final decision.

The party collected fees of Rs 50,000 from every applicant. However, for the applicants belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the fee was Rs 25,000.

Other important constituencies and Congress aspirants

LB Nagar - Madhu Yashki Goud, Malreddy Ranga Reddy

Madhira - Bhatti Vikramarka

Nagarjuna Sagar - Kunduru Jana Reddy, Jana's two sons Raghuveer Reddy and Jayaveer Reddy

Andole - Damodar Raja Narasimha, daughter Trisha

Mulugu - Dhansari Anasuya (Seethakka)

Pinapaka - Seethakka's son Surya

Miryalaguda - Kunduru Raghuveer Reddy

Karimnagar - Ramya Rao and her son Ritesh Rao

Musheerabad - Anjan Kumar Yadav Son Anil Yadav

Munugode - Punna Kailash Netha, Palvai Sravanthi

Khairatabad - P Vijaya Reddy, Rohit Reddy, Vinod Reddy

Wanaparthy - Dr G Chinna Reddy

Nizamabad - Mahesh Kumar Goud