Lok Sabha polls 2024: Khammam a hot seat for Congress aspirants
Hanumanth Rao, Renuka Choudhary and Nandini Bhatti Vikramarka vying for Congress ticket in Khammam hot seat
By Kaniza Garari Published on 2 Feb 2024 3:26 PM GMT
Hyderabad: Khammam has become a hot seat for political aspirants applying for a seat to contest the Lok Sabha elections 2024 from Telangana.
The Congress party has begun inviting applications for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and so far has received more than 50 aspirants for a total of 14 seats to be contested from the state.
Aspirants from Khammam
Aspirants who have applied to contest from Khammam constituency are senior Congress leader V Hanumanth Rao, deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka’s wife Nandini, Dr G Srinivas Rao former director of health with Telangana government and Rajendra Prasad, MD of VVC group of companies.
Former MP Renuka Choudhary is going to apply on February 3 for the same seat.
Why is Khammam sought after?
The seat of Khammam is said to be a seat of easy win as it is said to be a Congress stronghold. The Congress has a record of winning 12 times from the Khamma Lok Sabha constituency since its inception in 1952. According to sources in the Congress party, the request for Sonia Gandhi to contest from Telangana is made keeping the Khammam parliamentary seats in mind.
However, in the Lok Sabha elections 2019, Nama Nageswara Rao of the TRS (now BRS) party won with 5,66,621 votes. The runner up was Renuka Choudhary. In the Lok Sabha elections 2014, Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy of the YSRCP party won with 4,18,609 votes. Nama Nageswara Rao, who was with TDP then, came second. Nama Nageswara Rao also came first in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
It’s a seat which is also close to the Andhra Pradesh border and the Congress party hopes to have an impact on both states.
Will this seat see a lot of infighting?
Yes, said sources, as many influential and strong leaders are vying for it. The Congress party leaders said that their decision would be based on surveys and only those who show on top of the winning list will be given the ticket.
The last day for applications to the Congress party is February 3 after which the screening committee will scrutinise and send the list to New Delhi to the All-India Congress Committee.
