Kodandaram Gives Up Jangaon After Meeting Rahul Gandhi

Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) president Kodandaram has bowed out of the Mahakootami ticket for the Jangaon Assembly constituency, paving the way for the Congress allotting the seat to former PCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah, who has been contesting from the same constituency for a long time.

Kodandaram yielded to a request by Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the national capital.

During the meeting, Gandhi reportedly asked Kodandaram to drop out of the race for the Jangaon seat and allow the senior Congress leader to contest for it. Responding positively, the TJS president decided to not contest from the constituency in the December 7 Assembly elections.

According to party sources, Gandhi promised Kodandaram that he would give one MLC and one Rajya Sabha seat to the TJS in future.

The decision of Kodandaram has also paved the way for the release of the third and the final list of Congress candidates in the state. AICC leader in-charge of Telangana party affairs R C Kuntia said the third list would be released on Saturday. It is likely to have the names of 19 party candidates.

Meanwhile, the Congress has reportedly decided to field former MLA Marri Shashidhar Reddy for the Sanathnagar Assembly seat. The party had initially decided to concede the seat to grand alliance partner TDP, but has now apparently changed its mind and cleared the line for the senior leader to contest for the seat.