The Congress party has taken a new approach in selecting candidates for the upcoming MLC elections in Telangana. Instead of making decisions based only on internal discussions, the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) relied on reports from the new state in-charge, Meenakshi Natarajan. The party prioritized loyal members for the MLC seats under the MLA quota.
Out of the four available seats, Congress has given three to its own members while ensuring a balance in gender and caste representation. The fourth seat has been given to the Communist Party of India (CPI) as part of an alliance agreement. The selected candidates are Vijayashanti under the women’s and high command quota, Addanki Dayakar (SC), and K Shankar Naik (ST) from Nalgonda. The CPI has nominated Chada Venkat Reddy.
Shankar Naik, who is currently the District Congress Committee (DCC) president of Nalgonda, has strong grassroots connections. He played a key role in the last Assembly elections, making his selection an important decision for the party.
Many senior leaders, including V Hanumantha Rao, Shabbir Ali, and Mallesh, were also in the race for MLC seats. To ensure fairness, the party sought a detailed report from Meenakshi Natarajan. She advised that committed party workers should be given priority over new entrants. Her recommendations were then reviewed by the AICC under the leadership of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Earlier, this responsibility was handled by K C Venugopal.
Vijayashanti had recently met Kharge to remind him of a promise made to her by former state in-charge Manik Rao Thakre when she joined the party. Many Congress leaders believe that her strong speaking skills will help the party counter the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and its leader, K Chandrasekhar Rao, both in the Legislative Council and in public debates.
Initially, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the Congress leadership planned to give the CPI a seat in the future due to the large number of Congress aspirants. However, after repeated requests from the CPI, Congress decided to allocate one seat to its alliance partner in this election.
Dayakar’s selection was expected, as he had missed several opportunities in the past. Additionally, senior Congress leader K Jana Reddy strongly supported Kethavath Shankar Naik’s candidature.
The last date for filing nominations is March 10. If elections are needed, they will take place on March 20.
