Denied Party Ticket, Marri Speaks Of "Alternatives"

The decision of the Congress high command to not field its veteran leader and former minister Marri Shashidhar Reddy from the Sanathnagar Assembly constituency for the upcoming Telangana Assembly elections has come as a complete shock to his followers and the state leadership.

In the seat-sharing arrangement among the grand alliance (Mahakootami) partners, the Sanathnagar seat was allotted to the TDP, and even before the Congress released its list, the Telugu Desam Party announced that it would field Kuna Venkatesh Goud from there.

Reddy said that he was completely disappointed with the decision of the Congress high command. Reddy flayed TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy for misleading the screening committee and the party high command by informing them that he could not win the Sanathnagar Assembly seat. He claimed that he had received 68% votes in a recent survey, and requested Rahul Gandhi to reconsider his case.

He also announced that he had alternatives if he did not get the ticket, and would take a call on whether to contest the elections for the Sanathnagar Assembly seat anyway, after holding meetings with his family members, supporters and followers. He said that he would take a decision within two days on contesting the election.

Reddy's announcement that he had options has now become the talk in the political corridors of the state.