The Congress party is delaying the announcement of its candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls because they are worried about rebels causing trouble. The party has gained popularity and still has a strong group of supporters who can make a difference in about 40 seats. This has led to a lot of people wanting to be candidates, and the party has been admitting former members of other parties with the promise of giving them tickets. As a result, there is tough competition for the tickets, and the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) has asked the party leadership to talk to the disgruntled candidates before announcing the list.
Former AICC president Rahul Gandhi has been given the task of handling this issue. He has already called all the potential rebels to Delhi for individual meetings. An example of this is the promise of the Malkajgiri Assembly seat to BRS MLA Mynampally Hanumanta Rao, who joined the Congress. This caused opposition from Medchal DCC president N Sridhar, who threatened to run as an independent candidate. Rahul Gandhi met with him and convinced him that he would receive an MLC ticket instead.
Meanwhile, the Congress is finalizing its list of candidates for the Assembly elections. Some senior leaders are hoping for tickets, but reports from the All India Congress Committee (AICC) suggest that their chances of winning are not good. In some areas, recent party joiners have a strong base of support, which has caused anger among long-time party members.
There is intense competition for party tickets in Suryapet, where TPCC leader Patel Ramesh Reddy and former minister R Damodar Reddy are both lobbying for candidacy. In Khammam district, there is a race between Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy’s group and senior party leaders for tickets. Due to these internal issues, the candidate list will not be announced until everything is sorted out.
