Congress Ministers Committee Shortlists 4 Names for Jubilee Hills Bypoll

 Hyderabad: The three-member ministers committee formed by the Congress to oversee the party's Jubilee Hills bypoll preparations reportedly shordlisted four potential candidates — V. Naveen Yadav, former mayor Bonthu Rammohan, former MP M Anjan Kumar Yadav and C.N. Reddy — and submitted it to AICC Telangana incharge Meenakshi Natarajan and TPCC chief B. Mahesh Kumar Goud on Saturday.

The panel, comprising ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, Gaddam Vivek and Tummala Nageswara Rao, undertook a three-day consultation exercise with local leaders and cadres before finalising its recommendations.

According to party sources, the committee stressed the importance of nominating a Backward Classes community candidate, citing their numerical strength in the constituency. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is likely to meet Natarajan and Goud on October 6 or 7 to narrow the list to three names, which will be forwarded to the high command for the final selection.

Naveen Yadav had contested twice from Jubilee Hills — on an AIMIM ticket in 2014, finishing second, and coming third as an independent in 2018. He the joined Congress in November 2023, just ahead of the Assembly polls.

Rammohan, who served as the GHMC mayor from 2016 to 2021, quit the BRS to join Congress in February 2024. He has not contested Assembly elections but brings organisational experience.

C.N. Reddy, a former BRS corporator from Rahmatnagar elected in 2020, switched to the Congress in November 2023.

Senior leader Anjan Kumar Yadav represented Secunderabad in Lok Sabha twice (2004, 2009) and lost from Musheerabad in the 2023 Assembly polls. His son M. Anil Kumar Yadav entered the Rajya Sabha in April 2024 under the MLAs’ quota.

The committee’s assessment shows that out of 3.93 lakh voters in Jubilee Hills, those belonging to the Backward Classes community constitute 1.4 lakh: Munnurukapus 22,000 voters; Yadavs 15,000; Mudiraj 13,500; Padmashali 12,000; Vaddera 15,000; Gouds 15,000; Vishwa Brahmana 13,000; Kammari 9,600 and Rajaka and others 13,000.

Rammohan, from the Munnurukapu community, is seeking the party’s ticket by projecting support from his own community and the Yadava community, to which his wife and Cherlapally corporator Bonthu Sridevi belongs. The Congress leadership is expected to finalise its choice of candidate once the Election Commission issues the bypoll schedule along with Bihar Assembly polls likely in a week.