Tribal leaders protest at Gandhi Bhavan demanding 7 Assembly seats: Revanth Reddy irked by naysayers

HYDERABAD: While the Election Commission has officially declared that Telangana would go to polls on November 30, 2023, it seems that there is no end to infighting in the Congress party, as leaders are still squabbling for MLA tickets. While there are multiple aspirants for each seat, the party is now facing stiff resistance from tribals, who want the party to declare tickets for Lambadis tribe.

Protesting in front of the Gandhi Bhavan on Wednesday, Lambadi leaders demanded that MLA tickets should be given for them in Nalgonda, Nagarjuna Sagar, Miryalaguda, Kalwakurthy, Jadcherla, Medak and Narsapur constituencies. They warned that if tickets were not allocated for them, the Lambadis would work against the party and ensure their defeat in the upcoming elections.

While there are multiple aspirants for each seat in 30-40 constituencies, Telangana Congress BCs leaders are demanding that atleast 34 seats to be allocated to them. Ever since the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) allocated 22 seats to BCs, pressure has been mounting on Revanth Reddy to allocate more seats to the community. In fact, former PCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah said that the party must recognise the BC leaders, given the percentage of votes they would bring in. However, with many aspirants, the number of seats promised to the BCs is likely to reduce.

Meanwhile, the Telangana Congress is facing trouble nominating MLA candidates as many senior Congress leaders are pushing for nominating their own candidates especially their kin. This has led to a war of words between Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Revanth Reddy and senior leaders like Uttam Kumar Reddy, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Madhu Goud Yaskhi and other leaders.

In fact, clashes between Uttam Kumar Reddy and Revanth Reddy have been out in the open over the past few months. The trouble between the two leaders date back to the time since Uttam Kumar Reddy was replaced with Revanth Reddy as the TPCC chief. The rift reached a flashpoint and came to the fore when Revanth Reddy lodged a complaint with the Hyderabad Cyber Crime several months ago. In the complaint, he alleged that canards were being spread against him on social media with the intention of tarnishing his public image. In a consequent search on the TPCC premises, the police traced the alleged activity to a social media team working for Uttam Kumar Reddy. It was found out then that the team was working from a location in Banjara Hills. A few hard disks were seized on this occasion also.

Apart from Uttam, Revanth has been trying to mollify Komatireddy Venkat Reddy who is reportedly angry at the TPCC chief for unilaterally altering the names of candidates in some constituencies, contrary to decisions made by the party's screening committee. The two leaders have always been at loggerheads for the past two years over who is a senior and the roles and responsibilities being offered to them by the party.