The BJP and the Congress on Friday released its final list of candidates for the upcoming Telangana Assembly election, with both the parties dropping many popular contenders for the more experienced ones.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not include actress-turned-politician Vijayashanthi in the list, the Congress denied tickets to two keen aspirants, who political pundits claim, had better chances of winning against the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
The Congress also changed its Patancheru candidate by fielding Katta Sreenivas Goud in place of Nilam Madhu Mudiraj (a BRS turncoat) following violent protests by supporters of Goud.
Another party leader Patel Ramesh Reddy, who was vying for the ticket from Suryapet with the backing of PCC chief Revanth Reddy, was denied nomination. The nomination instead went to senior leader R Damodar Reddy who had lost to BRS minister G Jagadish Reddy in the 2018 state polls.
According to sources, Ramesh’s candidature was opposed by Congress stalwart from Nalgonda, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy. It was due to the same reason a more popular leader, Addanki Dayakar, was kept out of the contest, with the Congress opting for Mandula Samuel from Thungathurthi constituency in Nalgonda.
The BJP has fielded former MLC N Ramachander Rao as its candidate in Malkajgiri where he will face strong competition from BRS-turned-Congress candidate Mynamapally Hanumantha Rao. In Serilingampally, the saffron party has fielded Ravi Kumar Yadav though it had earlier decided to leave the seat for its ally Jana Sena. In Wanaparthy, the BJP changed its candidate, nominating Anugma Reddy instead of Ashvathama Reddy.
The southern state will go to the polls on November 30.