Congress hopeful leaders still waiting for their seats

A delay in seat adjustments among parties of the Grand Alliance has led to a further delay in the announcement of Congress candidates for the Telangana State Assembly elections. The TRS has begun its campaign across the state, while the Grand Alliance is still struggling with seat adjustments. The TPCC will send the applications received from party leaders directly and also from the District Congress Committees to the Screening Committee headed by Bhakth Charan Das for filtering the candidates. The Screening Committee will identify three candidates for each Assembly constituency and send the list to the high command for a final decision. However, the process has not yet begun.

The TPCC has completed the preliminary discussions with the Grand Alliance parties, comprising of the TD, CPI and the TJS.  The discussions on seat adjustments among the Grand Alliance parties will start soon. The Congress has decided to announce its candidates only after the process.  TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said, “The candidates list will not be announced until the discussion of seat adjustments with other parties are completed. Speaking to the media on Monday, he said that they had completed preliminary discussions on the formation of the Grand Alliance, but, discussions on seats adjustments were yet to begin and it could take a little more time.

The Congress aspirants are worried with the delay since the TRS has already announced the candidates. Congress leaders feel that they are losing precious time to take up the campaign due to the delay in announcing the candidates. A senior Congress told this newspaper on condition of anonymity, “The Congress has to share some seats with alliance parties. As of now, we do not know how it will end. However, if the party finalises the seat sharing, then the candidates will be announced.” 

Meanwhile, TPCC Screening Committee Chairman Bhakta Charan Das said, “Several leaders of the Congress party are meeting us and explaining the political situation in Telangana. We are taking all the necessary details. Once we get the list from the TPCC, then the screening process begins.” He said that the three-member screening committee would tour Telangana for three days and collect the opinions of party leaders relating to the candidates before completing the list. TPCC working president, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said, “We are not in a hurry to announce the list of candidates since we are confident about the elections. Our men are already doing the ground work and most of the candidates have clarity about their tickets.”