A wave of complaints from senior Telangana Congress leaders on what they termed as ‘whimsical’ style of selection of candidates reportedly forced the party’s central leadership to hold back the list for the time being.
A majority of the senior leaders are said to be cut up with the high command for the way the selection process was taken up with undue interference of certain forces without realising the ground realities. Seniors like K. Jana Reddy, former PCC president D. Srinivas, former Ministers – D.K. Aruna and D. Sridhar Babu are said to be unhappy at the manner in which certain candidates were selected ignoring their request. Another reason leaders pointed out was the fear of non-cooperation from the Congress leaders, who are likely to be denied tickets forced the party to put off the announcement by a day.
Sources, privy to the developments in the last two days more, told The Hindu that a strong complaint was lodged with the AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh as a result of which the issue was brought to the notice of top leadership.
The manner in which the AICC spokesperson Randeep Surjewala hurriedly concluded the press conference was apparently at the instructions of the seniors. It is understood that the TPCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah, working president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and former Deputy Chief Minister C. Damodar Rajanarasimha were dumbstruck and shocked when the list was being announced.
They had anticipated that only a few names of sitting members would be cleared. They had not bargained for the 110 names to be cleared at a single go. A senior leader lamented that Mr. Sridhar Babu was upset at the re-entry of Peddapalli MP G. Vivekanand into the party and his clout with the high command in selection of candidates in the seven segments. Similarly, Ms. Aruna is miffed with the central leadership for giving ticket to Union Minister S. Jaipal Reddy to contest from Mahabubnagar at the cost of denying a chance to former MP D. Vithal Rao, a BC. She is said to have complained that Mr. Jaipal Reddy was encouraging parallel groups in the Mahabubnagar Congress unit.
Mr. Jana Reddy and Mr. Srinivas too are disappointed as their plea for tickets to their sons did not materialise. The TPCC president was helpless in getting the name of his daughter-in-law Vaishali cleared for Warangal West constituency.
A TPCC spokesperson, who wished anonymity, was furious at the way the list continued to change by the hour at the behest of some key figures in the Rahul Gandhi camp. Highly placed Congress sources said there was no consensus in the list given by the TPCC and the one prepared by a former bureaucrat-turned-politician and a Union Minister, who has been active after the bifurcation process. Tickets to TJAC and OUJAC leaders did not go down well with the party as there were protests at Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday. Preference to OUJAC leader Daruvu Yellanna for the Sircilla seat has upset the chances of Karimnagar DCC chief Ravinder Rao. Contentious constituencies include: Warangal West, Secunderbad Cantonment, Ibrahimpatnam, Kukatpally, Amberpet, Secunderabad and Parkal.
