Even as the last day for filing the nomination papers ends in a couple of days the Congress continues to grapple with seat sharing and finalising its own candidates for the remaining seats, including the Jangaon seat where former PCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah and Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) president Kodandaram are keen to contest.
The senior leadership was in New Delhi for the last three days to finalise the list but the discussions did not yield quick results as the seat sharing exercise between the grand alliance parties could not be completed.
The final list, however, will be released on Saturday.
No solution
Mr. Ponnala Lakshmaiah, however, appeared confident of retaining his party nomination after the unscheduled visit of Mr. Kodandaram to New Delhi where he discussed the issue with AICC president Rahul Gandhi.
Mr. Gandhi apparently tried to convince Mr. Kodandaram, which the latter denied.
Senior leader, Marri Shashidhar Reddy faced similar problem with no decision taken on the Sanathnagar seat so far. The TDP is keen on it but the Congress apparently offered the Secunderabad seat to it for leaving Sanathnagar.
The fate of former mayor of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Banda Karthika Reddy also hangs in balance as she is an aspirant for Secunderabad segment.
Former MLC and former chairman of Ranga Reddy Zilla Parishad Kasani Gnaneshwar’s name also cropped up for the Secunderabad seat, it is said as the Congress wants to give more representation to Backward Classes.
He is an aspirant for the Rajendra Nagar along with Mr. P. Karthik Reddy, who announced his resignation from the party after the seat went to Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Upset leaders
On the other hand, Congress cadre seem to be unhappy with the inordinate delay and a senior functionary explained that all the advantage Congress and the grand alliance got over the last one month seems to be slowly waning away.
“The delay in announcing the seats has caused damage to the party and more so Ponnala’s issue is giving ammunition to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi that a top BC leader was not accommodated in the first list,” said a senior leader. Former ministers Boda Janardhan and Vijayarama Rao, aspirants from Chennur and Station Ghanpur seats announced their intention to form a rebel front. They claimed that more than 12 aspirants from the Congress would join them apart from candidates from the TRS and the BJP.
They said despite announcing that ‘parachute leaders’ would not be encouraged somehow they were given importance in the ticket selections.
They demanded that TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and AICC incharge R.C. Khuntia explain why they were denied tickets when they worked hard for building party the from the grassroots.