Telangana Congress first list, the key takeaways: Party bets on experience, all three Lok Sabha MPs in fray

Three former BRS leaders get tickets, including Kolhapur strongman Jupally Krishna Rao, former MLA Hanumantha Rao, and Hanumantha’s son Rohit; at 17, most candidates from the Reddy community

Malkajgiri MP and state Congress president A Revanth Reddy will contest from his home constituency of Kodangal. (PTI)

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In Telangana, the Congress is aiming to win its second state in south India and has surged in recent months in the race to unseat the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) from power. On Sunday, the party released its first list of 55 candidates for the elections to the 119-member Assembly.

Here are four takeaways from the Congress’s list:

Party old-timers rewarded: The Congress has given a majority of the tickets to leaders who have been with it for long, with only three in the first list going to leaders who recently joined from the BRS. They are Kollapur strongman and five-time Congress MLA Jupally Krishna Rao who returned to the Congress in August and will contest from his turf. Former BRS MLA Mynampally Hanumantha Rao’s gamble to quit the ruling party last month has also paid off. Not only has he got the ticket from Malkajgiri, but his son will also contest from Medak. Rao quit the BRS after it decided against fielding Rohit.
All three Congress Lok Sabha MPs from the state named: Malkajgiri MP and state Congress president A Revanth Reddy will contest from his home constituency of Kodangal while former state Congress chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy, the Nalgonda MP, will be in the fray from Huzurnagar. Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy will contest from Nalgonda. Revanth Reddy won from Kodangal in 2009 and 2014 but lost to the BRS in 2018. Uttam Kumar Reddy won from Huzurnagar in 2009, 2014, and 2018 but vacated the seat after winning the parliamentary election in May 2019. The BRS wrested the seat in the bypoll. Venkat Reddy won from the Nalgonda Assembly constituency in 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014 but lost the seat to the BRS last time.
Other notable candidates: Uttam Kumar Reddy’s wife Padmavathi Reddy will contest from Kodad, which she won in 2014 but lost four years later. Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka will be in the fray from the Scheduled Caste (SC)-reserved Madhira seat and, as was expected, Danasari Anasuya, a former Maoist popularly known as Seethakka, has been renominated from the Mulug constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs). Sangareddy strongman Thurupu Jayprakash Reddy, popularly known as Jagga Reddy, has been renominated. Former journalist Dr Kota Neelima has been nominated from Sanathnagar while former Congress MP M Anjan Kumar Yadav will contest from Musheerabad.
Reddys dominate list: The first list is dominated by 17 from the Reddy community. There are 12 each from the Backward Class (BC) and SC communities, seven Velamas, two STs, three Muslims, and two Brahmins.

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