Ponnala Vows To Fight From Jangaon Despite No Ticket

Former Pradesh Congress Committee president and former minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah, whose name did not figure in the first list of the Congress party candidates for the upcoming Telangana elections, said that he was shocked by the omission, and declared that he would contest from the Jangaon Assembly constituency in the elections anyway.

Addressing media persons in New Delhi, Ponnala said, "I have been associated with the Congress for the last three-and-a-half decades, and have been contesting from Jangaon since the beginning. I am totally disappointed to find my name missing from the first list."

Ponnala said that he had come to Delhi to meet the party high command and impress upon them the services rendered by him over the last 35 years to the party, and to urge them to allot the Jangaon ticket to him.

Refuting news reports claiming that the Jangaon seat had been allocated to the Mahakootami partner TJS, Ponnala claimed, "There is no truth in the reports that my seat has been allotted to the TJS. In fact, even the TJS leaders do not claim that they demanded the Jangaon constituency."

He exuded confidence that his name would figure in the second list to be released by the party in a day or two.

The senior Congress leader, however, agreed that the Congress needed to give up some important Assembly constituencies due to the coalition compulsions in Telangana.