HYDERABAD: The central election committee of the Congress has finalised the candidates for 70 Assembly constituencies in the State for the upcoming polls and will complete the process before the bus yatra commences on October 18, confirmed the party’s screening committee chairman K Muralidharan on Friday.
The central election committee is scheduled to reconvene on Saturday to finalise the remaining candidates and allocate tickets to the alliance partners — the CPI and CPM — in the State, he said. Muralidharan said that the candidates were finalised based on the screening committee’s recommendations. Before the CEC meeting, the screening committee held a lengthy four-hour session to compile the list of candidates, which was then submitted to the central election committee.
Muralidharan clarified that alliance discussions with the CPI and CPM are ongoing and are expected to conclude on Saturday. Once the talks are finalised, the central election committee will meet to determine the remaining candidates, which is also expected to happen on Saturday.
Asked about the resignation of former PCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Muralidharan downplayed its significance, stating that many new leaders are joining the party. He reiterated that candidate selection will be based on their winnability, loyalty and dedication to the party. He also insisted that the party was following the Udaipur Declaration and questioned how any leader could level allegations against the party before the list of candidates was even announced.
Revanth, Uttam argue over picks
During the screening committee meeting, a heated argument reportedly erupted between TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy and his predecessor N Uttam Kumar Reddy regarding the prominence being given to new leaders at the expense of senior and loyal leaders. Uttam advocated for providing opportunities to the old guard, loyal leaders and the younger generation, while Revanth argued that the finalisation of candidates should be based on survey reports. The TPCC chief insisted that there was no intention to exclude the old guard and loyalists.