HYDERABAD
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AICC Central Election Committee (CEC) will meet on Friday evening to finalise the names of candidates for the Telangana Assembly Elections 2023 amid high expectations and suspense over, who gets the nod for the tickets.
The Screening committee of the party will meet this morning to finalise the list of 119 candidates and handover the same to the CEC for further action.
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Tomorrow being Amavasya considered an inauspicious day, indications available suggest that the party may announce the first list on Sunday. In all probability, the first list will have candidates in the constituencies where only single names were recommended.
Sources said the senior Congress leaders and Screening committee zeroed in on single names in at least 60-70 constituencies. These are the constituencies where the party is expecting to put up stellar performance and in some cases wrest the seat from the rival Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS).
Senior leaders are wracking their brains over 40 constituencies where there is intense competition for the tickets. Every senior leader of stature in the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) prepared his list of supporters for consideration and this is said to be leading to tight rope walk for the Screening Committee.
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The issue of old timers and seniors aspiring for the tickets coupled with defectors from other parties and some new comers eyeing the tickets is adding to the confusion and heartburn. The Screening Committee meetings in the last few weeks have seen fireworks and strong objections.
A section of the BC leaders are said to be peeved that the party is not honouring the commitment of 34 seats it had promised to this section. Arguing that the survey conducted by the party was not rational and was against the spirit of the party line to encourage the weaker sections, a group of BC leaders planned a protest demonstration at Gandhi Bhavan today, the State Congress headquarters to denounce the attitude of certain leaders.
However, a call from the central leadership made them call off the protest this morning. But, simmering discontent and anger is visible among a section of the weaker sections, according to TPCC sources. Recently, a group of Lambada ST’s staged a demonstration at Gandhi Bhavan demanding due share of reserved seats for them. They argued that based on their population, they should get eight seats out of the 12 reserved for the STs leaving the rest to the Adivasis.