KARIMNAGAR: With the Congress taking its own sweet time to finalise the party ticket for the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat, aspirants remain on tenterhooks awaiting the green signal from the high command.
The decision, now expected to be announced on March 31, has left aspirants busy lobbying for the ticket. AICC in-charge for Telangana Deepa Dasmunshi is closely monitoring the situation even as surveys are being conducted to determine the most viable candidate capable of challenging the BJP and BRS candidates.
Local MLAs, including Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, have proposed the name of Velichala Rajender Rao, while former MLA and Mulkanoor Cooperative Society chairman Aligireddy Praveen Reddy has also thrown his hat into the ring.
Teenmar Mallanna, a BC, too considers himself in the fray and has caught the attention of the high command. However, sources say that two ministers are caught in a tug-of-war, each advocating for his nominee.
A senior party leader said that several factors are under consideration, notably the candidate’s capacity to finance the campaign and effectively communicate across the Lok Sabha constituency. Opposition within the party’s local cadre against Mallanna’s candidacy due to his non-local status has further complicated the decision-making process. Meanwhile, retired CI and Congress leader Dasari Bhoomaiah has urged the party not to field non-local candidates. Bhoomaiah said that he was ready to contest as a local candidate.
The Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat, a general category constituency, is currently held by BJP’s Bandi Sanjay, a BC leader.
Congress aspirants include Velichala Rajender Rao and A Praveen Reddy, while the BRS candidate, B Praveen Kumar, is from a forward caste.
Non-locals won’t win, say Congress cadre
Grassroots Congress workers in Karimnagar favour a local candidate and say that a non-local choice will ever be able to wrest the seat from the BJP
