Komatireddy, Revanth Reddy Warn Party Over Tickets

Even as the stage is set for the declaration of the first list of the Congress party candidates for the upcoming Telangana Assembly elections, several senior leaders are trying to exert pressure on the party high command to secure tickets for their loyalists.

In a fresh development, it has been learnt that TPCC Working President A Revanth Reddy, who has reportedly been leaving no stone unturned to ensure the victory of the party, is upset with the decision of the high command to deny tickets to his loyalists. According to highly placed sources, Reddy reportedly warned the high command that he would withdraw from the fray and not contest if his supporters were denied tickets.

These candidates include Vem Narender Reddy (Warangal West), A Narsareddy (Nizamabad Rural), Rajaram Yadav (Armoor), Subash Reddy (Yellareddy), Belya Naik (Deverakonda), Haripriya (Yellandu), Patel Ramesh Reddy (Suryapet) and Boda Janardhan (Chennoor).

Another senior party leader and former minister, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, also reportedly warned the party high command that he would withdraw from the fray if his loyalist Chirumarthi Lingaiah was not given the ticket for the Nakrekal constituency. Going a step ahead, he staged a dharna in protest in Nalgonda town along with Lingaiah.

He also cautioned that the TPCC President N Uttam Kumar Reddy and ex-CLP leader K Jana Reddy would not win from their respective Assembly constituencies if Lingaiah was not given the ticket.

"I will not even contest in the upcoming elections if Lingaiah is denied the ticket. He won on behalf of the party earlier and he will win this time as well. I don't understand what is prompting the high command to concede the seat to the alliance partners when it is a winning seat for our party," he said.

Separately, the younger brother of Venkat Reddy and party MLC K Rajagopal Reddy met with the members of the party's screening committee in New Delhi on the issue and urged them not to allot the Nakrekal seat to the grand alliance partners. "I am confident that the high command will allot the ticket to those leaders who can win the elections for the party. If the ticket is not given to our own winning candidates and is instead allotted to our alliance partners, then it will only benefit our rival, the TRS. This is the time to cash in on the strong anti-incumbency factor prevailing in the state and defeat the TRS," he said.

Reddy also expressed hope that the high command would give the ticket for the Suryapet constituency to party leader Patel Ramesh Reddy.

Political analysts feel that the senior party leaders are adopting blackmailing tactics to secure tickets for their loyalists. They also added that there was more to such acts than met the eye. "There are many reasons for Revanth Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy adopting such blackmailing tactics. Both leaders are very popular and are considered to be front-runners for the CM's post. However, they can't become the CM unless they have their loyalists as MLAs. It is for this reason that they are trying to blackmail the party leadership and get tickets for their supporters," a political analyst said.