All the three sitting Lok Sabha members and five assembly members figure in the first list of 55 candidates of the Congress party released by the AICC on Sunday morning, for the upcoming assembly elections in Telangana to be held on November 30.
While Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and Malkajgiri MP from A Revanth Reddy would be contesting from Kodandal, two other MPs Komatireddy Venkat Reddy from Bhongiri will contest the assembly polls from Nalgonda and Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy from Huzurnagar.
Similarly, all the five sitting MLAs – T Jagga Reddy from Sangareddy, Dhanasari Anasuya alias Seethakka from Mulug (ST), Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka from Madhira (SC), Podem Veeraiah from Bhadrachalam (ST) and Duddilla Sridhar Babu from Manthani, will be contesting from their respective constituencies.
Interestingly, the party also given tickets to family members of two candidates -- N Padmavathi Reddy, wife of N Uttam Kumar Reddy from Kodad and Mynampalli Rohit, son of Malkajgiri MLA Mynampally Hanumantha Rao from Medak assembly constituency.
There are in all, 15 Reddy candidates in the 55-member list, besides 12 Scheduled Castes, two Scheduled Tribes, three Muslims, a Brahmin and others from backward classes.
Except in Gajwel, where Congress leader Tumkunta Narasa Reddy will be contesting against Bharat Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Congress has not yet finalized the candidature for KCR’s second constituency Kamareddy, KTR’s constituency Siricilla and Harish Rao’s constituency Siddipet.
In Kamareddy, former minister Mohammad Ali Shabbir is expecting the seat but his name does not figure in the first list.
Similarly, other senior leaders like Dr J Geetha Reddy from Zahirabad (SC) and Nagam Janardhan Reddy from Nagarkurnool were also denied the tickets.
Names of two other prominent leaders from Khammam – Tummala Nageshwar Rao and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, who defected from the BRS, also did not figure in the first list, as the party is in discussion with the CPI and CPI (M) for an alliance.
