HYDERABAD: In stark contrast to its promise of giving more tickets to BCs, Congress has given fewer B-forms to the community when compared to the ruling BRS.
The irony is that the grand old party changed some candidates at the last minute, replacing BC leaders with those from the dominant Reddy community.
About two months ago, during a political affairs committee (PAC) meeting that was also attended by Congress poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu, it was decided to give at least two seats in every Lok Sabha segment to BC leaders. The decision was based on a report submitted by Kanugolu that giving tickets to BCs would help the party consolidate the votes of the community.
Later, party leaders, including TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy, AICC Telangana in-charge Manikrao Thakre and CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka — who were involved in the process of selection of candidates — claimed that the Congress would “certainly” give more tickets than the ruling BRS. Interestingly, they didn’t compare the Congress with its national rival BJP which gave over 40 tickets to BCs.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Congress has given tickets to strong upper castes from Velama and Reddy communities by inducting them into the party in the segments where BCs expected tickets. For instance, while Nandikanti Sridhar, a BC leader, expected a ticket, Congress inducted Mynapampalli Hanumantha Rao and gave two tickets to his family.
During this week, Congress Banswada ticket aspirant Kasula Balaraj attempted suicide as the party gave the ticket to new entrant Enugu Ravinder Reddy. Likewise, the party denied tickets to prominent leaders such as Ponnala Laxmaiah and others.
Now, after finding itself in a situation of giving fewer tickets than the BRS, Congress is claiming that it would prioritise BCs in nominated posts and MLCs if the party is voted to power.