“Parachutes given priority at cost of…”: Telangana Congress writes to Kharge on lists of candidates for assembly polls

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India]: Telangana Congress leaders on Sunday urged party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to reconsider the first and second lists of candidates for the November 30 Assembly polls as some leaders appear upset with the “parachutes given priority at the cost of loyal leaders”.

Kisan Congress national vice president, M Kodanda Reddy and TPCC senior vice president G Niranjan in their letter said that the first and second lists of the candidates announced by the party created flutter and dissatisfaction among the cadre and leaders those who are with the party for the decades.

“There is an opinion as the parachutes are given priority at the cost of committed and loyal leaders though they are competent to fight the elections in all respects,” the letter stated.

“In view of the feelings and dissatisfaction of the cadre we request your good self to review and reconsider the names of the candidates announced in first and second lists to repose the confidence among the people and to set right the prevailing atmosphere in the Party,” it added.

The party has fielded 100 candidates, so far, for the 119 member Assembly seats, going to polls in November 30.

In the first list announced on October 15, the Congress announced the names of as many as 55 candidates. The party released its second list of 45 candidates, fielding former India cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin from Jubilee Hills seat.

The counting of votes will be done on December 3.

Telangana is set to witness a triangular contest between the BJP, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and the Congress in the upcoming assembly election.

In the previous Assembly election held in 2018, BRS managed to win 88 seats out of 119 and had a dominant vote share of 47.4 per cent. Congress came in a distant second with 19 seats. Its vote share was 28.7 per cent.