Congress nominates Venkat Balmoor, Mahesh Kumar Goud as MLC candidates; Addanki Dayakar left out

HYDERABAD: The Congress has announced its MLC candidates for the by-elections for the Legislative Council on January 29, 2024 and has made a surprise change at the last minute. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) released the names of Mahesh Kumar Goud Bomma and Venkat Narsing Rao Balmoor on Wednesday and to everyone's shock, left out nominating Addanki Dayakar who was considered a front runner all along.

Also Read: Addanki Dayakar, Balmoor Venkat likely to be nominated Congress MLCs under MLA's quota

NSUI president Venkat Balmoor and TPCC working president Mahesh Kumar Goud would be the candidates for MLCs under the Governor's quota. Dayakar was hoping to contest the Telangana MLA elections from Thungathurthi but was told to 'sacrifice' his ticket in return for an MLC nomination. However, with ticket being denied, there are rumours that he might be nominated for the Parliament elections.

The two vacancies in the legislative council came up because two MLCs, Kadiyam Srihari and Padi Kaushik Reddy had resigned on December 9, 2023 after they won MLA elections. The election will be held on January 29 and votes will be counted on the same day. Congress is expected to win the two seats in the council given their numbers. The BRS meanwhile has a majority in the legislative council with 27 seats while the Congress has only two seats.