Telangana Congress struggles to zero-in on candidates for eight Lok Sabha seats

HYDERABAD: The Telangana Congress, which has so far announced candidates for nine Lok Sabha seats, is finding it tough to finalise tickets for each of the remaining eight seats in Adilabad, Khammam, Bhuvanagiri, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Medak, Warangal and Hyderabad. Here's a look at the current scenario for the ruling party in each of these constituencies.

Adilabad

In Adilabad, the party is considering giving tickets to either Atram Suguna and Atram Bhaskar. Both of them were Government teachers who are working as Kolam Development officers at ITDA, Utnoor and had resigned from their jobs and joined the Congress in the presence of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Minister Seethakka. Former MLA Rekha Naik too has been lobbying for the ticket.

Khammam

There is heavy competition among senior Congress leaders to acquire tickets for their kin in Khammam, which is considered a Congress bastion. There is heavy competition to allocate the ticket to either Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka's wife Nandini or Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy's brother Prasad Reddy.

Bhuvanagiri

In Bhuvanagiri, the Komatireddy brothers are hell bent on getting the ticket to their kin. While MLA Komatireddy Rajagopala Reddy wants the Bhuvanagiri ticket to be given to his wife, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is said to be a loyalist of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, is also vying for the seat. It is being speculated that Revanth Reddy is heavily lobbying with the party high command for Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Karimnagar

With 14 applicants who are vying for Karimnagar seat, the grand old party is yet to finalise the candidates for the constituency. Senior leader and former MLA Aligireddy Praveen Reddy and Velichala Rajender Rao are among those trying for the ticket. Praveen Reddy, who was elected as MLA from Husnabad in 2009, was denied an Assembly ticket in 2023.

On the other hand, Rajender Rao, son of senior leader and former MLA Jagapathi Rao, is also trying for the ticket. Rajender, who worked as Praja Rajyam Party Karimnagar district president, contested as MP from Karimnagar in 2009. He also contested for Choppadandi assembly segment as an Independent candidate.

Nizamabad

As many as nine aspirants applied for a Congress ticket for the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat. With sitting BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind expected to give a tough fight, the Congress is exerting pressure on its working president and MLC B Mahesh Kumar Goud to contest from this seat. However party veteran T Jeevan Reddy looks to be a front runner for Nizamabad.

Warangal

Pasunuri Dayakar, the BRS MP for Warangal, is being considered one of the possible candidates for the Warangal seat on behalf of the Congress. The leader was denied a ticket by the BRS and has thus shifted to the ruling party.

Medak

In what comes as a surprise, the name of senior actress-turned-politician M Vijayashanti is being proposed as one of the possible candidates for the Medak Lok Sabha seat.

Vijayashanti is said to be silently lobbying for the ticket with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi though her name was not shortlisted by the party's screening committee which shortlisted the candidates for Lok Sabha elections.

Vijayashanti had shifted from the BJP to the Congress in November ahead of the Assembly elections and was named chief coordinator of the PCC in Telangana during the elections.

Vijayashanti was previously elected to the Lok Sabha from the BRS.

Hyderabad

There are speculations that the Hyderabad seat could be offered to Ali Bin Ibrahim Masqati to take on AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi. Ali Bin Ibrahim Masqati was a senior TDP leader and noted businessman from Old City. He joined the Congress in October 2023.

Despite a lot of front runners for seats, the possibility of introducing new faces for some of the eight seats has not been ruled out by the Congress. The third list of the Congress candidates is expected to be released on March 27.