Congress suspends 2 disgruntled leaders amid protests against first list of candidates

Hyderabad: On Monday, the disciplinary committee of the Congress party suspended leaders Kuruva Vijayakumar and Kalim Baba for protesting the party’s decision to not award tickets to them. Vijayakumar and Kalim were hoping the party would give them tickets for Gadwal and Bahadurpura seats, respectively.

While Saritha Thirupathaiah got the ticket from the Gadwal constituency, Rajesh Kumar Pulipati was named the Congress candidate from the Bahadurpura constituency.

The disciplinary committee took serious offence against their outcry for not getting the tickets, which manifested through their followers burning effigies of party leaders at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad, tearing up flexi banners and making inappropriate comments on the leaders in violation of the party discipline.

‘No one person is responsible for ticket allotment’

The committee met at Gandhi Bhavan under the chairmanship of disciplinary committee chairman Chinna Reddy. According to the members, allotment of party tickets was done as per All India Congress Committee (AICC) rules and regulations. The allotment of tickets was entirely left to the discretion of the Central Election Committee, they said.

No one person is responsible for allotting the tickets. The disciplinary committee felt that it was a partisan action to only make PCC presidents responsible for giving the tickets, they said.

On Sunday, the Congress party released its first list of MLA candidates comprising 55 names contesting in the upcoming state Assembly elections. Some party workers had protested at Gandhi Bhavan against the first list by calling it ‘anti-Muslim’ which was not designed with the intention to fight the AIMIM in Old City.

‘BC candidates have no chance’

The party workers, including senior leaders, found fault with the party’s decision to give tickets for Muslim-dominated areas – Chandrayangutta, Bahadurpura and Yakutpura constituencies – to candidates from the Backward Classes. They pointed out that BC candidates do not stand a chance to win in AIMIM strongholds dominated by Muslims.

The list of names that sparked unrest among the Congress cadre included K Ravi Raju (Yakutpura), Rajesh Kumar Pulipati (Bahadurpura), Boya Nagesh (Chandrayangutta) and Sheikh Akbar (Malakpet).

In Bahadurpura, the aspirants listed were Mohammed Abdur Rahman, Mohammed Siraj Khan, Sheikh Mohammed Kaleemuddin, Mir Asad Ali, Mohammed Yousuf Danish and Rajesh Kumar Pullapati. The ticket was issued to Pullapati.

‘Internal conflict will send wrong message’

A senior congress party worker said, “The list is strange and not a practical one because minorities have been sidelined from AIMIM strongholds and BC candidates have been fielded whom no one knows. There is no chance they will win the elections. For example, Rajesh Kumar Pullapati, who got the Bahadurpura ticket, works as an office staff at the Congress office. He has no money, no political experience but strangely he was given a ticket. Also, suspending party workers will send a wrong message to the Muslims of Telangana and this internal conflict within the party will backfire in the elections. We hope they reconsider and change some of the candidates and replace them with Muslims, who have been given just three tickets so far.”

While explaining the party’s reasoning behind this contentious decision, a senior congress leader said, “The candidates given tickets in Old City are loyal party workers. The election screening committee decided that since the Muslim candidates face challenges in the Old City, which is AIMIM’s stronghold, it is best to consolidate Hindu votes and work towards converting Muslims to vote for the Congress party. This strategy will make a mark and win the seats for the party there.”