HYDERABAD: The Telangana Pradesh Congress Election Screening Committee, which met for the second consecutive day at AICC headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday, zeroed in on the candidates for 38 Assembly seats and forwarded it to the Central Election Committee for approval.
The committee, comprising chairman K Muralidharan, members Jignesh Mevani, Baba Siddique, AICC in-charge Manikrao Thakre, three AICC secretaries, TPCC Chief A Revanth Reddy, CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, MPs Uttam Kumar Reddy, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, and Campaign Committee chairman Madhu Yaskhi Goud, went through the list of the segments for which more than one candidate had applied for tickets in the upcoming Assembly elections.
The committee’s second meeting sent the Congress ticket aspirants into a tizzy as its decision would make or break their political future. Interestingly, a few State leaders went to the national capital and pleaded with the committee to not consider the names of the applicants who sought the LB Nagar ticket. They were also against the party allotting this ticket to Madhu Yaskhi Goud.
Several ticket aspirants also reportedly urged the screening committee not to consider the applications of “parachute” leaders who joined the party recently, bypassing the interests of the candidates who have been with the party through thick and thin. While shortlisting the candidates, the committee followed the guidelines of the Pradesh Election Committee and also took into consideration the BC equations.
The party is planning to allocate at least 30 Assembly tickets for BCs in the upcoming Assembly elections.
The grand old party may face rebel trouble in 20 to 25 Assembly segments if it allows tickets to those who joined the party recently. The screening committee members have mixed opinions on the leaders who joined the party recently as some of them were seeking tickets for their supporters as well. One member of the committee was in favour of allotting tickets to newcomers and their supporters as they are “strong candidates”.
However, another member reportedly objected to this, asking “How can the party give tickets to those who do not have any political background”. “They ‘manage’ elections with money. This is against the Congress’ ideology. Candidates should be selected on merit and their loyalty to the party,” he is believed to have said during the meeting.
Meanwhile, the committee recommended three names to the Congress Central Election Committee to finalise the candidates for other segments. The party is likely to announce its second and third list of candidates in October.
Opposition to Madhu Yaskhi’s candidature
A few Telangana leaders rushed to Delhi and pleaded with the Congress Election Screening Committee to not consider the names of the applicants who sought the LB Nagar ticket. They were also against the
party allotting this ticket to Madhu Yaskhi Goud.