Mohammed Azharuddin in Telangana Congress second list; many turncoats accommodated

No clarity on Kamareddy seat that KCR is contesting from; the late Gaddar's daughter gets a ticket

Written by Sreenivas Janyala

Hyderabad | Updated: October 28, 2023 06:14 PM IST

3 min read

Former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin has been fielded from the Jubilee Hills seat in Hyderabad. (File/PTI)

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The second Congress list for Telangana, comprising 45 names, that was released on Friday evening features former Munugode MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy, who returned from the BJP to the Congress hours earlier.

Former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin has been fielded from the Jubilee Hills seat in Hyderabad.

Azharuddin is a one-time MP from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. He lost the seat to the BJP in 2014. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he sought a ticket from the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat, but the Congress could not accommodate him.

Other turncoats from the the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), BJP, or the TDP have been rewarded with tickets. Former MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy who quit the BRS and joined the Congress recently will contest from Palair. Former BRS minister Tummala Nageshwara Rao who joined the Congress in September is being fielded from Khammam, while former BRS municipal corporator Jagdeeswar Goud will contest from Serilingampally. Former BRS MLA Konda Surekha who joined the party in 2018 will got the Warangal East ticket.

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Senior leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir, expected to contest from Kamareddy against Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, has not been mentioned in the second list too.

Sources said the Congress may ask Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy, who has already been fielded from Kodangal, to take on KCR in the Kamareddy seat, with the possibilities of Shabbir being shifted to Nizamabad.

G Vennela, the daughter of balladeer Gaddar who passed away in August, has been given a ticket from Secunderabad Cantonment. P Vishnuvardhan Reddy, the former MLA from Jubilee Hills and the son of five-time MP P Janardhan Reddy, was a ticket aspirant from the seat.

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Sources in the party say that senior leaders have been asked to contest from Assembly segments where the party feels it has a chance to wrest control from the ruling BRS.

Former Congress MP Madhu Yakshi Goud has been fielded from LB Nagar and MP Ponnam Prabhakar will contest from Husnabad.

There was conversation about Prabhakar being fielded from the Karimnagar Assembly seat earlier, which is seeing a battle between former BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar against sitting BRS MLA Gangula Kamalakar,

The Congress is yet to announce candidates for 19 seats; it may allocate 2 each to the CPI and CPM.

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