Following the reluctance of seniors to enter the electoral fray, the Congress was forced to field six little known faces for the Parliamentary constituencies in Seemandhra, the list of which was released in Delhi on Sunday night. They were among the 20 candidates who would test their luck for LS seats. The Central election committee of Congress also announced names of 139 candidates for the Assembly seats in the region.
That the Congress is desperate became clear when it announced the candidature of 10 persons who had little exposure to politics or have been away from the party for some time. Shaik Abdul Waheed (Guntur), Devineni Avinash (Vijayawada), Thota Vijayalakshmi (Anakapalli), Musunuri Nageswara Rao (Eluru), Darsi Pavan Kumar (Ongole), Venkataramudu (Hindupur), B.Y. Ramaiah (Nandyal), Kandula Durgesh (Rajahmundry), Kasu Venkata Krishna Reddy (Narasaraopet) and Vakati Naryana Reddy (Nellore) are little known names but now have been pitch forked for the poll battle. It retained Union Ministers – Killi Kruparani (Srikakulam), Kishore Chandra Deo (Araku), M.M. Pallam Raju (Kakinada), Panabaka Lakshmi (Bapatla) and Kotla Jayasuryaprakash Reddy (Kurnool). Sitting MPs – Botcha Jhansi (Vizianagaram), Chinta Mohan (Tirupati) and Kanumuri Bapiraju (Narsapur) – have been re-nominated while senior MP A. Saipratap who made a dramatic return to the party is the Rajampet LS seat candidate. The Congress has not finalised the names of candidates for Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam, Kadapa, Anantapur and Chittoor LS seats. As regards Assembly list, it is full of new faces with preference being given to the kith and kin of the leaders, youth and second and third rung Congress leaders.
