Four heavyweights, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president D. Srinivas, two former Ministers Md. Ali Shabbir and G. Vinod and a former MP, Indrakaran Reddy, figure in the first list of eight candidates cleared on Sunday by the All India Congress Committee for the coming Assembly byelections.
The AICC Central Election Committee in-charge Oscar Fernandes released the list after getting the approval of AICC president Sonia Gandhi, in New Delhi on Sunday. Except for Mr. Shabbir who replaced B. Janardhan Goud in Yellareddy at the last moment, the Congress leadership retained a majority of the candidates who contested in Assembly elections in 2009.
Mr. Srinivas would contest from Nizamabad Urban constituency while the candidature of Mr. Vinod and Mr. Indrakaran Reddy has been cleared from Chennur and Sirpur constituencies.
A notable inclusion was that of K. Mahender Reddy who contested as TRS rebel from Sircilla in the previous elections and lost with a slender margin of about 170 votes to TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao's son K. Taraka Rama Rao.
The other candidates are A. Lakshman Kumar (Dharmapuri SC), Adi Srinivas (Vemulawada) and Kondapally Dayasagar Rao (Warangal West).
The party is yet to clear the candidates for Mancherial, Korutla, Huzurabad and Siddipet.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has re-nominated all its former MLAs in ten Assembly constituencies and given ticket to an ex-Telugu Desam MLA, Ch. Ramesh in Vemulawada.
The candidates besides Mr. Rama Rao (Sircilla) are Kaveti Sammaiah (Sirpur), G. Arvind Reddy (Mancherial), N. Odelu (Chennur), Etala Rajender (Huzurabad), Koppula Eshwar (Dharmapuri), K. Vidyasagara Rao (Korutla), D. Vinay Bhaskar (Warangal West), T. Harish Rao (Siddipet) and E. Ravinder Reddy (Yellareddy).
The TRS has already withdrawn from contest in Nizamabad (Urban) constituency where it will support BJP candidate Y. Laxminarayana, who is also an ex-MLA.
Mr. Ramesh's candidature from Vemulawada seat was in doubt since he holds German citizenship but the TRS clarified on Sunday that it found no problem in his case and hence decided to give him the ticket.
Briefing reporters after the polit bureau meeting which was presided by K. Chandrasekhar Rao, senior leaders Naini Narasimha Reddy and S. Madhusudhanachary said it was decided to take up intensive campaign for elections from July 9 to 25.
