Scene shifts to Delhi

Congress aspirants make a beeline

Warangal: Telangana political scene has shifted to Delhi for the time being with majority of aspirants including those belonging to erstwhile Warangal district camping there lobbying for tickets. Hectic lobbying is witnessed in the corridors of top Congress leaders’ residences and offices.  

Prominent among those left for Delhi campaigning to muster support within ranks were minority leaders, who have been eyeing Warangal East constituency, which has a good chunk of Muslim population. In fact, the constituency is one among those - Karimnagar, Kamareddy, Khammam, Nizamabad Urban, Mahbubnagar, Ramagundam, Adilabad and Zaheerabad - that have more than 30,000 Muslim electorate.

Since the Congress party on September 14 announced its screening committee for Telangana with former MP Bhakta Charan Das as its chairperson and Jothimani Sennimalai and Sharmistha Mukherjee as members, the leaders have made a beeline to Delhi to buttress their candidatures.

Chairman of the Congress Minorities Cell for Telangana Khaja Fakhruddin and Warangal District Minority Cell president Md Ayub, who met the three-member screening committee on Sunday, sought at least six seats for minorities. The leaders detailed the geographical data of the Muslim polarisation in Telangana constituencies to the committee. Even though history suggests that minorities did well in Warangal, the fact is that no political party in the recent past had encouraged the Muslims.

Since Mirza Shukoor Baig of the Congress won the Warangal seat in 1957, only once the ticket was given to Muslim minorities. Abdul Khader Mohmmad, who contested from the constituency in 1985 lost to Telugu Desam’s Bhandaru Nagabhushan Rao with a narrow margin.

Speaking to The Hans India, Md Ayub from Delhi said: “We have numbers to claim the Warangal East seat. Hence, we gave a representation to the committee seeking allotment of Warangal East for minorities.” Incidentally, Ayub himself is a strong contender, who pinned his hopes on Warangal East constituency.

Meanwhile, Warangal Urban president Katla Srinivas Rao also met the three-member committee and submitted a report relating to the candidates of five constituencies. In response, the committee assured him of verifying the credentials of the candidates, it’s learnt. 

Sources in the Congress camp said that the committee will prepare a list based on ground report before recommending a list to the All India Congress Committee president Rahul Gandhi.