HYDERABAD: Congress on Tuesday was rocked by angry rebels protesting the allotment of tickets. However, while the protests were continuing in Telangana, in Delhi, AICC top bosses reportedly finalised the second list of candidates which is likely to be released today.
Former MLA and Serilingampally ticket aspirant Bhikshapati Yadav has announced that he would contest as a rebel, alleging that the Congress high command had neglected leaders who had worked for the party for decades.
“I played a key role in making Rahul Gandhi’s public meeting in Serilingampally a big success. Though AICC leaders assured me the ticket, they ultimately betrayed me. We will teach Congress a lesson,” said Yadav.
Bhikshapati Yadav and his followers had held protests at Gandhi Bhavan a few days ago and also lobbied hard in an attempt to pressure AICC bosses into giving him the ticket. However, as Serilingampally has been allotted to TDP as part of the alliance, Yadav had to contend with disappointment.
Several influential leaders who could potentially sabotage the chances of Grand Alliance candidates such as N Rajender Reddy from Warangal West, Chandrashekhar from Vikarabad and Patel Ramesh Reddy from Suryapet are gearing up to file nominations as rebels. The list of rebels may go up after the announcement of the second list. Even senior leaders like Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Gandra Venkataramana Reddy, Marri Sahshidhar Reddy, P Vishnuvardhan Reddy and others are miffed over the exclusion of their names in the first list.
Ponnala Lakshmaiah became the centre of the storm as the Jangaon-based leader was excluded from the first list. As the talk of allotting Jangaon to TJS are doing the rounds, Ponnala could be denied the ticket this time. Sensing danger, the disgruntled leader rushed to Delhi on Tuesday to register his protest.
TIP angry with Congress
Telangana Inti Party chief Cheruku Sudhakar came down heavily on Congress for denying them the Nakrekal ticket. Sudhakar said that it was Congress that had called them for an alliance but was now ignoring them.
TDP rebels create havoc
Rebel trouble has made its way into TDP with party members, including supporters of Serilingampally aspirant Movva Satyanarayana, staging their protest against the allocation of tickets at NTR Bhavan. The protests turned violent with a TDP activist attempting to set himself on fire. Several workers from Quthbullapur and LB Nagar also protested, urging party leaders to not allow these constituencies to its allies.