Congress has to pick candidates for 13 LS seats, excluding 12 sitting MPs
Congress logo. Picture for representational purpose only.
Hyderabad: The Congress leadership is finding it difficult to find strong candidates to contest Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh. For the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh state, the APCC has received 200 applications from ticket seekers. But many of them are not serious contenders.
The Congress had won 21 of the 25 parliamentary seats in the 2009 general elections. Since then, 10 Congress MPs have left the party. Now the Congress has to select party candidates for 13 Lok Sabha seats, excluding 12 sitting MPs.
The AICC screening committee in its first meeting held two days ago finalised 11 candidates. There are three new faces among them.
After Congress MPs Sabbam Hari (Anakapalli), Lagadapati Rajagopal (Vijayawada) and Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy (Nellore) left the party, the screening committee replaced them with newcomers Tota Vijayalakshmi for Anakapalli, Devineni Avinash for Vijayawada and Vakati Narayana Reddy for Nellore.
Sitting MPs Killi Kruparani (Srikakulam), Botsa Jhansi (Vizianagaram), Kishore Chandra Deo (Araku), M.M. Pallam Raju (Kakinada), Kanumuri Bapiraju (Narsapuram), and Panabaka Laxmi (Bapatla) have been retained.
Mr Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy (Kurnool) and Mr Chinta Mohan (Tirupati) have also been given tickets. That still leaves 14 Lok Sabha seats for which candidates have to be found. The party’s ranks have been depleted with the exit of MPs Daggubati Purandeswari (Visakhapatnam), Vundavalli Arun Kumar (Rajahmundry), G. Harsha Kumar (Amalapuram), Kavuri Sambasiva Rao (Eluru), Mr Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (Guntur), Mr Magunta Srinivasa Reddy (Ongole), Mr Saipratap (Rajampet), Ananta Venkatarama Reddy (Anantapur), S.P.Y. Reddy (Nandyal).
New candidates have to be selected for these constituencies, as also from Machilipatnam, Narasaraopet, Chittoor and Hindupur.
APCC president N. Raghuveera Reddy has asked senior ministers to find strong candidates in these constituencies. He has also asked some ministers to contest the elections. Former minister Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad who represents Tadikonda in Guntur district now wants to contest from the Vemur Assembly seat. He was asked to contest a Lok Sabha seat, but was not interested.
According to sources, if he is not nominated from Vemur, he may not contest at all. Former minister Kanna Laxminarayana initially agreed to contest from Guntur, but changed his mind. Rajya Sabha MP T. Subbarami Reddy may be asked to contest from Visakhapatnam. Former minister Kasu Venkata Krishna Reddy was asked to fight the Narasaraopet Lok Sabha seat.
Meanwhile, the Congress is trying to cajole the MPs it expelled to return to the party. AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh asked Mr Harsha Kumar to rejoin the party, but was turned down. Mr Singh is now trying his luck with Rajampet MP Saipratap.
The MP had had planned to join the Telugu Desam, but the party has allotted the Rajampet Lok Sabha seat to the BJP. The leaves Mr Saipratap with no choice but to either join the Congress or contest as an independent.
MrRaghuveera Reddy will go to Delhi on Monday to hold a second round of talks with the AICC screening committee. He said on Saturday that the APCC manifesto and candidates list for Andhra Pradesh state will be announced on April 7 or 8.
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