Congress leaders clamour for LS poll tickets

​Hyderabad: With political parties across the country already getting into election mode, leaders of different hues seem to have started vying for Lok Sabha seats. Senior leaders of the Congress in the State are no different as they are understood to have been urging the party to give tickets to them wherever there is no clarity on candidates.

Party leaders are upbeat as they are confident on sweeping the next elections and leaving no stone unturned to get party tickets in constituencies where the party leadership is yet to finalise the names of probable candidates. 

Tickets of as many as 10 Lok Sabha seats are up for the grab for the Congress leaders and several leaders are making efforts to get nominated and urging the party’s Delhi bosses for considering their names.
As of now, there is no clarity on candidates in Lok Sabha constituencies like Nalgonda, Bhongir, Khammam, Zaheerabad, Hyderabad, Medak, Nagarkurnool, Malkajgiri, Warangal and Peddapalli in the Congress due to departures of leaders from the party and lack of interest by previous candidates.

Though the Congress has won the Nalgonda Lok Sabha seat in the previous elections, its MP G Sukhendar Reddy joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and now this seat is available for the Congress candidate. Rajagopal Reddy who contested from Bhongir is said to be not interested to contest for the Lok Sabha and instead he is opting to contest for the Assembly.

Khammam LS seat was given to CPI in the previous elections and in the next elections if there is no alliance with that party, it would be given to the Congress candidate, it is understood. Candidate of Zaheerabad LS Suresh Shetkar is not interested contest from there, and he is seeking ticket from Narayanakhed.

As far as Hyderabad is concerned, the Congress is thinking to field a strong candidate, according to sources. The contestant from Medak Sravan Kumar Reddy is not interested to contest again for Lok Sabha. The Congress is thinking to change the candidate in Nagarkurnool. Malkajgiri constituency is also open for candidates as of now. In the same way, Warangal and Peddapalli too are yet to be finalised.

It is against this backdrop, the Congress seniors started putting efforts to clinch nomination from those constituencies. Former cricketer Azaharuddin is seeking nomination from Zaheerabad, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy from Nalgonda, Dasoju Sravan and G Narayana Reddy from Bhongir, K Laxma Reddy, Sarvey Satyanarayana, Renuka Chowdary from Khammam, M Ravi from Nagarkurnool, and wife of former Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha Padmini Reddy from Medak are also seeking party nominations, according to our sources.

The Congress is contemplating to shift Sarvey Satyanarana from Malkajgiri to Warangal and it is scouting for a candidate in Peddapalli constituency. There is clarity in the remaining Lok Sabha seats. The senior leaders who are seeking nominations have been sending their requests to the party high command through various channels. They have been suggesting their own names for LS seats in the internal meetings of the party, it is understood.