New Delhi/Hyderabad: The Congress denied Assembly tickets to four ministers and the deputy speaker of the state Assembly in Andhra Pradesh while retaining almost all the sitting MPs in the list of candidates announced on Saturday for next month's polls.
The party has not fielded 55 sitting legislators and included 90 new faces in the list of 290 candidates for the assembly elections. However, it retained almost all the sitting MPs, including five central ministers.
Congress' central leadership announced in New Delhi the names of 290 candidates for the assembly and all 42 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. The candidates for four assembly constituencies will be announced later.
There are a couple of surprises in the list of Lok Sabha candidates. A. Narendra, the expelled MP from Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), is the candidate from Medak. Narendra's inclusion was surprising as the former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader has not even joined the Congress and is known for his close association with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Manda Jagannadham, who was expelled from the opposition Telegu Desam Party (TDP) for voting in favour of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in a crucial parliament trust vote last year, has been rewarded with a ticket from Nagarkurnool.
G. Sukhender Reddy, who quit as TDP vice president two days ago and joined the Congress, has been fielded from Nalgonda.
Union ministers S. Jaipal Reddy (Chevella), Renuka Chowdhury (Khammam), Daggubati Purandeswari (Visakhapatnam), Pannabaka Lakshmi (Bapatla) and Pallam Raju (Kakinada) have been fielded again though the constituencies of a couple of them have been changed as the seats they were elected from in 2004 were either scrapped or reserved for Scheduled Castes during the seat delimitation exercise.
Purandareswari, daughter of TDP founder and former chief minister N.T. Rama Rao, will contest from Visakhapatnam instead of Bapatla, which was reserved for Scheduled Castes, while Jaipal Reddy will be the candidate from newly created Chevella constituency in place of Miryalguda, which was scrapped.
Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy will contest from Kadapa in place of his uncle Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy.
G. Vivekanand will be the candidate from Pedapalli as his father and senior Congress leader G. Venkatswamy has decided not to seek re-election.
All India Congress Committee secretary Madhu Yaskhi Goud will again contest from Nizamabad.
The Congress has denied tickets to 55 sitting state legislators, including four state ministers and deputy speaker of the assembly G. Kutulahamma.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy will seek re-election from Pulivendula constituency in Kadapa district. NTR's elder son-in-law and Purandareswari's husband D. Venkateshwara Rao has been retained while actress Jayasudha has been included in the list. She will contest from the Secunderabad assembly constituency.
The Congress had bagged 29 Lok Sabha and 185 assembly seats in the 2004 elections.
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