Hyderabad: The Telangana Congress leadership has started the exercise of selecting candidates for elections to the Legislative Council. The nine-member committee appointed for selection of candidates met on Monday but took no decisions. It will meet again on Tuesday.
At the meeting, members of the committee suggested names of possible candidates from their districts, among them Komatireddy Venkata Reddy, former MLA, who was defeated in the recent assembly elections from Nalgonda constituency, and TPCC treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) sources say the main contenders are former minister Marri Sashidhar Reddy, and Gudur Narayana Reddy. Marri Sashidhar Reddy was denied a ticket in the recent assembly elections as his constituency, Sanathnagar, was allotted to the Telugu Desam (TD) in the seat adjustment between the two parties. Gudur Narayana Reddy, TPCC treasurer, wants to contest the parliamentary elections from Bhongir.
Mr Sashidhar Reddy met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in Amaravati two days ago and requested the support of the TD in the MLC elections. The TD has two MLAs in Telangana state. Mr Sashidhar Reddy’s followers are confident he will get the ticket.
However, Gudur Narayana Reddy’s followers are also confident that he will get MLC. They said that the high command is looking for a fresh leader who is committed to the Congress party. Former MLA A. Revanth Reddy also met TD MLA M. Nageswara Rao and requested his party's support for the Congress candidate in the Legislative Council elections.
