Congress short lists candidates for T

Hyderabad : After much dithering, the ruling Congress party is likely to release its first list of candidates for Telangana region, both for the Assembly and Lok Sabha seats, on March 28.

The nominations for the first phase of polling, covering the entire Telangana region, commences on April 2. And, the last date for receiving the nominations is April 9.

The notification for the second phase polls in Seemandhra region would be issued on March 12 and nominations would be received till March 19. The Congress wants to complete the exercise of selection of candidates in Telangana much before the last date of withdrawals.

Telangana PCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah is currently camping in New Delhi, holding discussions with the party central leaders on selection of candidates.

The AICC General Secretary and in-charge of AP affairs Digvijay Singh said recently said that the candidates' list for the first phase would be released on March 28 and 30.

Congress Central Election Committee is engaged in short-listing the candidates and scrutinizing them and the exercise is expected to be completed by Thursday.

Along with Lakshmaiah, Telangana Congress leaders like Bhatti Vikramarka and others are participating in the selection process. The grand old party is selecting the candidates with winnability of candidates as the sole criterion.

It wants to win majority Assembly seats in the new State of Telangana and form the government. The ruling party is expected to firm up seat adjustments with the CPI.

According to indications, the party may re-nominate all the sitting MLAs and MPs, barring a few. In all probability, Congress may leave Nalgonda Lok Sabha seat to CPI.

Prominent leaders who might figure in the first list are former Deputy Chief Minister C Damodar Raja Narasimha, former Ministers P Sabitha Reddy, K Jana Reddy, J Geetha Reddy, R Venkat Reddy, R Damodar Reddy, P Lakshmaiah, D Sridhar Babu, Shabbir Ali, Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy, former Ministers M Mukesh Goud, D Nagendar, MP Madhu Yaski, MLA Jayasudha, former MLAs V Venkateswara Rao, S Chandrasekhar, MLA Muthyam Reddy, former ministers V Sunitha Laxma Reddy, B Saraiah, former chief whip G Venkata Ramana Reddy and others.This time around, Congress is expected to field new faces as the party vice-president Rahul Gandhi is insisting on giving opportunities to the youngsters and to infuse new blood into the party.