Khammam Lok Sabha seat conundrum gets knottier as Revanth Reddy seeks Priyanka Gandhi's nomination
The CEC would address this issues in its next meeting on March 31 and finalise candidates for the remaining four Lok Sabha seats.
- Telangana
P Krishnamurthy- Updated On:28 March 2024 8:13 AM GMT
HYDERABAD: The Congress high command announced candidates for four additional Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana on Wednesday, leaving four others pending. MLC T Jeevan Reddy was named as the candidate for the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy for Bhongir, Neelam Madhu for Medak, and Dr Suguna Kumari Chelimala for the Adilabad (ST) seat in the third list of candidates released for Telangana.
However, candidates for the Khammam, Hyderabad, Warangal, and Karimnagar Lok Sabha seats were kept pending by the party high command. The All India Congress Committee's (AICC) Central Election Committee (CEC) convened in New Delhi on Wednesday to finalise candidates for all remaining eight Lok Sabha constituencies but faced challenges in reaching a consensus.
Also Read: Telangana Congress struggles to zero-in on candidates for eight Lok Sabha seats
The CEC meeting concluded without completing the candidate selection, prompting the committee to schedule another meeting on March 31, 2024 to finalise candidates for the remaining four Lok Sabha constituencies.
Push for Priyanka Gandhi for Khammam seat
TPCC president and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy attended the CEC meeting. The trio advocated for fielding Priyanka Gandhi from Khammam due to disagreements over candidate selection for the seat.
Bhatti Vikramarka sought the Khammam Lok Sabha ticket for his wife Nandini, while Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy pushed for the same for his brother Ponguleti Prasad Reddy. Revanth Reddy advocated for Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy to receive the Bhongir Lok Sabha ticket, despite the Komatireddy brothers also vying for the seat for Laxmi, the wife of MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy. The CEC meeting ultimately decided in favour of Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy for the Bhongir Lok Sabha seat, setting aside other considerations.
The CEC would address these issues in its next meeting on March 31 and finalise candidates for the remaining four Lok Sabha seats. So far, the Congress high command has declared candidates for nine out of the total 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana, split across two phases.
The first phase on March 8 saw candidates announced for Nalgonda (Kunduru Raghuveer Reddy), Mahabubnagar (Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy), Zahirabad (Suresh Shetkar), and Mahabubabad (P Balram Naik). In the second phase on March 21, candidates were named for Peddapalli (Gaddam Vamshi Krishna), Malkajgiri (Sunitha Mahender Reddy), Secunderabad (Danam Nagender), Nagarkurnool (Mallu Ravi), and Chevella (Gaddam Ranjith Reddy).
