Congress party on Wednesday sprang a surprise by picking up Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) working president Bomma Mahesh Kumar Goud and NSUI state chief Balamoor Venkat Narsing Rao as the MLC candidates from the MLA quota.
The two are expected to file their nominations on Thursday, the last day for filing of papers with the Returning officer.
NSUI State Chief Balamoor Venkat Narsing Rao
AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal in a release said the party President Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the candidature of Mr. Mahesh Goud and Mr. Balamoor Venkat. Mr. Mahesh Goud is a BC and Mr. Balamoor Venkat hails from the Velama OC community.
The vacancies were caused by the resignation of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLCs – Padi Kaushik Reddy and Kadiyam Srihari, who were elected as MLAs in the recently held Assembly elections.
There was heavy competition for the two vacancies as the Congress leaders were sure to win both the seats after the Election Commission issued a separate notification. Had it been a single notification, the main opposition BRS too was confident of winning one seat.
Given the strength of the Congress party in the Assembly and separate polling for both the seats, the ruling party is confident of wresting both the seats. The BRS is undecided on fielding its candidate.
Speculation was rife till this afternoon that the party was strongly backing the candidature of Addanki Dayakar, who was denied the party ticket from Thungathurty SC reserved seat in the Assembly elections. So was the case with Mr. Balamoor Venkat Rao, who had aspired for the Huzurabad ticket but lost the race in the last minute.
The party high command had sent emissaries to pacify both the leaders ahead of the elections. Party sources said a section of the senior leaders from Nalgonda district had strongly opposed giving any chance to Addanki Dayakar, which seem to have prompted the central leadership to review its earlier decision to name him.
Balamoor Venkat
The selection of Mr. Balamoor Venkat came as a surprise in the party circles as he was nowhere in the race, according to party sources. It is understood that the agitational programmes he had undertaken as the chief of the party’s students wing.
He was arrested a couple of times by the police for leading protests against the Government. Party leaders point out that his selection could a positive signal to the cadre that a hardworking young leader’s contribution has been recognised.
Mahesh Kumar Goud
Mahesh Kumar Goud has been a long time leader of the Congress having risen from the ranks. He was the NSUI State President in the 90’s and held various positions in the party. He was a strong aspirant for the Nizamabad Urban seat in the just concluded Assembly elections.
Due to shifting of former Minister Md. Ali Shabbir to Nizamabad Urban constituency following the TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy’s decision to contest from Kamareddy seat against the then Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, Mr. Mahesh was convinced to sacrifice his claim. The AICC leadership had promised to recognise his services and the sacrifice and aptly rewarded him with the MLC ticket.
