The Congress leadership has announced that it will field its nominee for the ensuing by-election to Allagadda Assembly constituency in Kurnool district.
The seat is being represented by B. Shoba Nagireddy, who died in a road accident a few days before the election. The Election Commission is yet to announce the schedule for the bypoll.
AP Congress Committee president N. Raghuveera Reddy justified the party’s decision to contest the by-election claiming that it was not in violation of any understanding between the political parties. He recalled that following killing of Congress MLA D. Ragya Naik by Naxalites in 2001, major political parties including the Congress, TDP, BJP and the Left decided against fielding candidates if the bypoll was necessitated due to killing of the sitting MLAs by extremists.
“The present case is, however, different and the Congress will contest the bypoll,” he said. Responding to queries, Mr. Reddy reminded that the TDP fielded its candidate for Tekkali Assembly constituency in 2009 after the sitting Congress MLA K. Revatipati died soon after the elections.
Referring to the the recently-held Nandigama bypoll, he said: “The Congress has been written off by its opponents. But, the party secured significant number of votes in spite of the TDP spending huge amounts to lure voters,” he said.
