Congress will place its bet on the winning horse based on the survey reports and neither the family background nor personal image will ensure the ticket to the aspirants who are in the race for Munugode bypoll.
The message was sent quite clearly to aspirants who are the strong contenders for the ticket in the constituency that has been traditionally a Congress bastion though the left parties have also made their presence felt several times. The message comes in the wake of confusion among the cadre on the candidate with supporters of the aspirants claiming themselves to be party choice.
A phone call between Palvai Sravanthi, one of the aspirants, and a Congress workers was widely shared where Ms. Sravanthi said she would be right choice and not Challamalla Krishna Reddy, whose name is floating. In the conversation she was heard saying that TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy would not make any mistake in choosing the right candidate given the high stakes involved.
Realising that such incidents may hurt the party in the bypoll, senior leaders sent the message that candidate name will be finalised based on survey reports alone. A senior leader, who was privy to the discussions, said that as of now Congress was still strong as per the survey reports and Mr. Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy, who left the party with an intention to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was not the favourite given his disconnect with the constituency in the last one year.
As per Congress internal surveys, Mr. Rajgopal Reddy is a strong name but his attachment with the BJP will not yield any fruit. The TRS is also a strong contender but their internal differences and anti-establishment factor will play the spoilsport. Much depends on the Communists as well and their support will strengthen any party.
Defections
Congress is wary of the likely defections given the money and muscle power of both BJP and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) as the election date draws near. To meet such eventuality constituency leaders have been asked to identify leaders to replace immediately, particularly at the mandal level.
The meeting called by AICC Secretary N.S. Bose Raju at Gandhi Bhavan on Wednesday focused on stopping the defections and finding replacements. The meeting was attended by TPCC working president Mahesh Kumar Goud, former Minister R. Damodar Reddy, DCC president and some ticket aspirants including Sravanthi, Challamalla Krishna Reddy and Palle Ravi.
