Azharuddin among 45 names in Cong’s 2nd list for Telangana elections
With the current list, the Congress has announced candidates for 90 of the 119 assembly seats in the state, which is set to go to polls on November 30
The Congress on Friday announced its second list of 45 candidates for the assembly elections in Telangana, and fielded former Indian cricket team captain Mohammad Azharuddin from the Jubilee Hills seat.
With the current list, the Congress has announced candidates for 90 of the 119 assembly seats in the state, which is set to go to polls on November 30. The counting on votes will be held on December 3.
Other prominent leaders fielded in the second list include former ministers Tummala Nageshwar Rao from Khammam, G Chinna Reddy from Wanaparthi, and Konda Surekha from Warangal (East), former MPs Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy from Palair, Madhu Yashki from L B Nagar and Ponnam Prabhakar from Husnabad, former MLAs Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy from Munugode, Malreddy Ranga Reddy from Ibrahimpatnam, Yennam Srinivas Reddy from Mahabubnagar, Revuri Prakash Reddy from Parkal, Payam Venkateshwarlu from Pinakapaka (ST) and K Lakshma Reddy from Maheshwaram.
The party has also fielded Dr GV Vennela, daughter of revolutionary balladeer Gummadi Vithal alias Gaddar who passed away recently, from Secunderabad Cantonment (SC) constituency.
Out of 45 candidates, 19 are Reddys, two Velamas, two Kammas, one Brahmin, one Muslim, six from Scheduled Tribes, three from Scheduled Castes and the remaining are OBCs. There are four women candidates in the list.
Others named in the list include former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy and Revuri Prakash Reddy; and former Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders Tummala Nageshwar Rao, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Bandi Ramesh, V Jagadishwar Goud and Kumbham Anil Kumar Reddy.
Rajagopal Reddy quit the BJP on Wednesday and joined the Congress on Friday morning in the presence of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, PCC chief A Revanth Reddy, Congress Legislature Party leader Bhatti Vikramarka and party star campaigner Komatireddy Venkat Reddy in New Delhi.
Others who joined the Congress include former MLAs Enugu Ravinder Reddy from Yellareddy constituency and Motkupalli Narasimhulu from Alair, former MLCs Neti Vidyasagar, Akula Lalitha and Kapilavai Dilip Kumar, besides prominent OBC leader Neelam Madhu Mudiraj from Patancheru.
In August 2022, Rajagopal Reddy had quit the Congress and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party to contest bye-elections to Munugode seat in November. He, however, lost the seat to the BRS by a margin of around 10,000 votes.
Though he was made the BJP national executive committee member, he has been keeping away from the party activities for quite some time. He resigned from the party on Wednesday, stating that the BJP has failed to emerge as the alternative to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the people were looking up to the Congress as the alternative.
“Whether I was in the BJP till recently or in the Congress now, it is only for defeating the BRS in the coming elections,” Reddy told reporters in New Delhi, after joining the Congress.
Telangana BJP spokesperson N V Subhash termed the Congress list unimpressive. “While many of them are old and predictable faces, there is no social justice in the selection, as only a few OBCs are there in the list, which is dominated by Reddys again,” he said.
BRS spokesperson Dasoju Sravan said the Congress list clearly indicates that the AICC has given its state unit as a “franchisee” to Revanth Reddy. “It has given blanket authority to Revanth Reddy to sell the party tickets and loot his own party leaders. The party has once again ignored the OBCs and seniors like V Hanumantha Rao have been completely sidelined,” Sravan said.
