Telangana Congress charges Rs 50,000 fee from contenders for Assembly polls, accepts applications from today

The Telangana Congress will start accepting applications from candidates planning to contest the state Assembly elections, which will be held towards the end of the year, beginning Friday, said TPCC chief Revanth Reddy.

Following in the footsteps of the Karnataka Congress model, the Telangana unit will charge Rs 25,000 as an "applying" fee for the aspiring candidates of SC, ST, and the physically challenged categories and Rs 50,000 for the rest.

The Karnataka unit of the party charged Rs 2 lakh, along with applications and other documents, from the aspiring candidates of the general category while it was Rs 1 lakh for SC/ST applicants in the Assembly polls held earlier in May.

The Congress formed a three-member sub-committee headed by former deputy chief minister Damodar Raja Narasimha to formulate modalities to pick candidates for the polls.

"By this afternoon, we will be uploading the necessary forms to be filled up by the candidates. Applicants will have to fill up the form and submit it along with a DD (Rs 50,000 or Rs 25,000) before August 25," said Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee Working President Mahesh Kumar Goud, one of the members of the panel, said.

Though the sub-committee recommended Rs 25,000 (for the general category), the party's top leadership fixed Rs 50,000 as the fee.

The aspiring candidates will have to mention their social media handles along with other information so that the party could conduct a background check, TPCC leader said.

The Pradesh Election Committee will meet during the first week of September and scrutinise all the applications and make recommendations to the AICC.

He said the party did not charge any amount during the last two Assembly polls -- 2018 and 2014. However, it charged Rs 10,000 in the 2009 polls.

He hoped that with the "applying fee", the party would expect only serious contenders to come forward.

"All the eligible applications will be sent to the survey teams that are in the field to verify the applicants' credentials and strengths at the grassroots level", said Revanth Reddy.

After the screening, the Central Election Committee of AICC will ultimately decide the candidates list, he said.

"We at PCC will only make suggestions and recommendations to the AICC. CEC will take final decision and announce the candidates list," Reddy said.

Candidates can apply for more than one constituency also.

Inputs from PTI