ADILABAD: Even as its State Screening Committee and Central Election Committee are likely to meet in New Delhi on Friday to finalise the party’s candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, the Congress is facing a dilemma over whom to allot tickets in the ST-reserved constituencies in the erstwhile Adilabad district.
The grand old party has the unenviable task of pleasing both the Gond and Lambada community leaders and their supporters. There are three Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat reserved for STs in the erstwhile Adilabad district and the Congress leaders are believed to be racking their brains in an attempt to work out a formula that will be acceptable to both communities.
Meanwhile, a candidates list that is being circulated on social media platforms indicates that the Asifabad ticket will be allotted to a Lambada leader Shyam Naik, who recently changed his loyalties from the BRS to the Congress. Asifabad is a Gond-dominated segment where the tribe has over 60,000 votes.
The Gond tribes are against the candidature of the Lambada leader and they also staged a protest at Gandhi Bhavan. Some of the Gonds want the party to allot the Asifabad ticket to senior leader Marsukola Saraswathi. It may be mentioned here that Saraswathi is the daughter of the late Kotnak Bheem Rao, who served as a minister during the Congress rule in the undivided Andhra Pradesh.
The viral social media post also shows that the Khanapur Congress ticket will be allotted to Vedma Bojju Patel, a Gond leader. Interestingly, Lambadas are the dominant community in this ST-reserved constituency. The Lambada community members too staged a protest in front of Gandhi Bhavan, seeking the Khanapur ticket for their community.
Boath is another constituency reserved for STs and here too the party is said to be in favour of picking Lambada candidate Naresh Jadhav though Gonds form the majority of the population in this segment. It may be mentioned here that the ruling BRS allotted two seats — Boath and Khanapur to Lambadas and Asifabad to a Gond. It also assured the Lok Sabha ticket to a Gond.