TPCC's Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) on Sunday shortlisted candidates for 10 Lok Sabha seats and referred them to the AICC's central election committee (CEC) for final approval, according to party sources, even as BJP leader Bangaru Sruthi, daughter of the late Bangaru Laxman, met Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. Revanth Reddy, the TPCC president, chaired the PEC meeting which picked the candidates over whom consensus had been reached.
The PEC is expected to meet again on Monday to shortlist names for the seven seats of Khammam, Adilabad, Medak, Hyderabad, Warangal, Nagarkurnool and Malkajgiri. Party sources said that the PEC has selected candidates for Mahbubnagar, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Peddapalli, Zaheerabad, Secunderabad, Nalgonda, Bhongir, Mahbubabad and Chevella Lok Sabha seats. Sources said that the PEC has selected Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy for Mahbubnagar, Aligireddy Praveen Reddy (Karimnagar), MLC T. Jeevan Reddy (Nizamabad), Gaddam Vamsi Krishna (Peddapalli), Suresh Kumar Shetkar (Zaheerabad), Bonthu Rammohan or Bonthu Sridevi (Secunderabad), Kunduru Raghuveer Reddy, son of K.
Jana Reddy (Nalgonda), Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy (Bhongir), Balram Naik (Mahbubabad) and Patnam Sunitha Mahender Reddy (Chevella).
Revanth Reddy will launch the party campaign on March 6 with a public meeting in Mahabubnagar. He has decided to address a public meeting in every Lok Sabha constituency headquarters in the first phase. He is keen to announce the names of all candidates before March 10. Meanwhile, TS BJP general secretary Bangaru Shruti, the daughter of the late party president Bangaru Laxman, met Revanth Reddy at his residence on Sunday.
It was speculated that Shruti would seek a Lok Sabha ticket from Nagarkurnool, reserved for the SC community, after the BJP nominated P. Bharat, son of BRS MP P. Ramulu who had defected last week. Asked whether she would be joining the Congress, Shruti said she met the Chief Minister on a personal issue. She had come second in the 2019 elections. From the Congress, Mallu Ravi has resigned as the government’s special representative in Delhi to lobby for the seat.