Congress Finalises 8 LS Seats for Telangana

The AICC's central election committee (CEC) which met in Delhi on Tuesday reportedly finalised the Congress candidates for eight Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana state and kept five others pending. It is learnt that the party could declare the names on Wednesday, though the focus is on states going to the polls in the first three phases. 

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka took part in the CEC meeting which was chaired by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by top leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi among others.

The CEC reportedly finalised the names of G. Ranjith Reddy (Chevella), Patnam Sunitha Mahender Reddy (Malkajgiri), Danam Nagender (Secunderabad), Dr Sumalatha (Adilabad), Gaddam Vamsi Krishna (Peddapalli) and Mallu Ravi (Nagarkurnool). Party sources said there could be last minute changes due to multiple serious contenders for a few of these seats. The CEC also discussed fielding Shri Ganesh, a BJP contestant in 2014 and 2018, from the Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly bypoll, necessitated by the death of BRS MLA Lasya Nanditha in a car accident. Shri Ganesh joined the Congress on Tuesday.

Speaking to media personnel after the CEC meeting, Bhatti said: “The CEC discussed selection of candidates for



eight states including Telangana. The AICC will declare the names of selected candidates later." He did not give any details. Official sources said that the CEC laid more focus on states which were going to the polls in the first and second phases in April. Since elections in Telangana state were in the fourth phase on May 13, the party leadership may decide to wait for a few more days to declare candidates for all seats.

Filing of nominations in the state will commence on April 18, is nearly a month later. The AICC declared candidates for only four Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana in the first list on March 8. They included Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Zahirabad and Mahbubabad. With BRS Chevella MP G. Ranjith Reddy and BRS Vikarabad zilla parishad chairperson Patnam Sunitha Mahender Reddy joining the Congress recently, the political equations have changed. The party is considering fielding Ranjith Reddy from Chevella and Sunitha Reddy from Malkajgiri.

There is speculation that BRS Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender, who joined the Congress recently, is being considered for the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat. With reports of a few more BRS leaders planning to join the Congress, the party leadership wants to wait to get clarity before finalising the candidates.