Three former BRS leaders among five in second Congress list for Lok Sabha polls

HYDERABAD: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Thursday announced five candidates in Telangana for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Interestingly, three of the five are former BRS leaders who recently switched to the ruling party.

The Congress nominated Gaddam Vamsi Krishna (Peddapalle), Sunitha Mahender Reddy (Malkajgiri), Danam Nagender (Secunderabad), Dr Gaddam Ranjith Reddy (Chevella) and Dr Mallu Ravi (Nagarkurnool) as its candidates.

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Finalising the name of Gaddam Vamsi Krishna, son of Chennur MLA G Vivekananda, was not a challenge. There was strong competition between Mallu Ravi and former MLA Sampath for Nagarkurnool constituency. However, the party decided to go ahead with Mallu Ravi’s candidature. There were a lot of deliberation for the rest of the seats too. Since there were no strong Congress candidates, the tickets were given to BRS leaders.

It is being speculated that the third list would be out soon. The party is yet to announce candidates for Khammam, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Warangal, Bhongir, Medak and Hyderabad. There are over 100 candidates who have applied for these remaining constituencies. There is speculation that the party has finalised Aligireddy Praveen Reddy (Karimnagar), Pasunuri Dayakar (Warangal), Ali Masqati (Hyderabad) as its candidates.