New Delhi/Hyderabad:

Former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin, late folk singer Gaddar’s daughter GV Vennela and ex-MPs Madhu Yashki Goud, Ponnam Prabhakar and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy were among the prominent names in the second list of 45 candidates announced by the Congress on Friday for the November 30 Telangana assembly polls.

Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy, who quit the BJP on Wednesday and rejoined the Congress today has been fielded from Munugode which he had represented earlier.

Mr Reddy’s resignation from Congress to join the BJP led to a bypoll in Munugode last year which he had lost.

Mr Azharuddin, who had represented Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh in Lok Sabha earlier, will contest from the posh Jubilee Hills constituency in Hyderabad.

Former MPs Madhu Yaskhi Goud and Ponnam Prabhakar would be contesting from LB Nagar in Hyderabad and Husnabad in Siddipet district respectively, while Gaddar’s daughter Vennela would be making her electoral debut in Secunderabad Cantt-SC constituency.

Former minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, who had recently quit the ruling BRS and joined the Congress, will contest from Khammam.

Former MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, who had also resigned from BRS and joined the Congress, has been fielded from Palair.

With this, the party has so far declared 100 candidates for the Telangana assembly polls.

The state has 119 assembly constituencies.

Earlier in the day, the Congress leadership deliberated upon the names of candidates for the Telangana assembly polls at a crucial meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee in Delhi.

Chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the meeting was attended by former party chief Sonia Gandhi, besides members of the committee and Telangana leaders, including PCC chief A Revanth Reddy. The Congress had also held a meeting of the CEC for Telangana on Wednesday.

The Congress is seeking to replace the BRS government in the state.

In the earlier list, the party fielded Pradesh Congress chief Anumula Revanth Reddy from Kodangal assembly seat while CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu from Madhira-SC seat.

Revanth Reddy is currently the sitting Lok Sabha MP from Malkajgiri parliamentary constituency.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

Hitting out at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s statement on having “family ties” with Telangana, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha on Friday said that the relationship Gandhi family has with the state is of betrayal.

While addressing party workers’ meeting in Nizamabad, Ms Kavitha said, “Today Rahul Gandhi came to Jagital and made tall claims. He said that he has a relationship with Telangana since his grandmother’s time and father’s time. I totally agree with him (Rahul Gandhi) that he has family ties with Telangana.”

She added, “It was Jawaharlal Nehru who forcefully merged us into Andhra Pradesh and killed our aspirations. In 1969, when we demanded a separate state, 369 students were shot by Indira Gandhi. Later, Rajiv Gandhi hurt Telangana’s self-respect. Sonia Gandhi promised to give Telangana in 2009 but took it back and many Telangana children died. You have a hand in it.”

She further slammed Rahul Gandhi for not speaking in support of the state in the last 10 years.

“It was Rajiv Gandhi who insulted our Chief Minister who was from the OBC community. In the last 10 years, Rahul Gandhi never spoke in support of Telangana. He never stood with us. Yes, you surely have a relationship with Telangana to continuously betray Telangana. The people of Telangana will definitely show this to you in the elections,” she added.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on ‘Vijayabheri Yatra’ in the poll-bound state, while addressing a rally at Jagtial took aim at Telangana CM and BRS chief, K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), and said, “You (the people) thought that the ‘Janata’ would rule in the state of Telangana but when the state was formed, the rule of one single family was established.”

He went on to say, “The entire resources of the state, whether it’s land, sand, or alcohol, are all under the control of one single family.”

Rahul Gandhi is campaigning in Telangana for a third day.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on October 9 announced that the Telangana Assembly polls are scheduled to be held on November 30. The counting of votes will be done on December 3.

Telangana is set to witness a triangular contest between the BJP, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and the Congress in the upcoming assembly election.

In the previous Assembly election held in 2018, BRS managed to win 88 seats out of 119 and had a dominant vote share of 47.4 per cent. Congress came in a distant second with 19 seats. Its vote share was 28.7 per cent.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

With voting for the Telangana elections just over a month away, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi has made regional pride the centrepiece of its campaign amid attacks of corruption and dynastic politics from the BJP and the Congress. The party’s working president, KT Rama Rao, who had said Andhra landlords were the villains during the last elections, has trained his guns on the ghulams (servants) of Gujarat and the Delhi durbar (courtiers) this time around.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV on Friday, Mr Rao also rubbished allegations from both the BJP and the Congress of his party siding with the other and said the BRS is nobody’s B-team, but Telangana’s A-team. 

“The entire statehood movement of Telangana was predicated on two things – self-respect and pride. The Prime Minister comes to Hyderabad and says one Gujarati (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel) relieved you from the clutches of the Nizam and another Gujarati (PM Narendra Modi) will relieve you from KCR (Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s) dictatorial rule,” Mr Rao, who is also the son of KCR, said.

“We also have to invoke pride and we also have to remind people that the ghulams of Gujarat here in Telangana – the BJP folks – have not done much in the past nine-and-a-half years and we have to speak about their track record as well. Same is the case with the Delhi durbar. Rahul baba comes here and starts saying things like family rule and dynasty, which probably has to be the joke of the millennium,” he added. 

Mr Rao, who is a minister and holds the information technology portfolio, among others, said people from Gujarat and Delhi don’t do their homework before coming to Telangana and he and his party have to remind them from time to time that the Telangana statehood agitation was a matter of great self-respect. “One of the most important tenets of that movement was pride, and you cannot come and insult us like that,” he said. 

Asked about election-related seizures in Telangana touching Rs 243 crore in just ten days, Mr Rao blamed the Congress and said that money had been seized from one of its former corporators in Bengaluru. When it was pointed out that the seizure was in Karnataka, he said a lot of people have common businesses in Karnataka and Telangana. 

“A few builders have told me that the Karnataka government has started charging an extra election tax – Rs 500 per square foot – and they are telling the builders directly that the money is being used for supporting and funding the Congress party in Telangana elections. That is where the money is being caught, the root,” he alleged.

To a question on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that KCR had bankrolled the Karnataka Congress campaign and the Congress is now returning the favour, Mr Rao said, “The PM is very good at scripting these brilliant narratives and brilliant stories. Unfortunately, none of them see the light of the day. He is the same man who promised bullet trains by 2022, five-trillion dollar economy by 2022 , farmer income doubling by 2022. I am not even going to refer to the Rs 15-lakh jumla.”

“So the fact is that no matter what the PM or Rahul Gandhi would like to believe, we are neither the B-team of the Congress nor the BJP, we are the A-team of the people of Telangana and we will continue to remain steadfastly neutral and equidistant from both the Congress and the BJP. This bipolar situation that they want to create, that this country has to lean either on the BJP or Congress, is not something that we subscribe to. We certainly don’t endorse their view or ideology,” he asserted.

The BRS, earlier known as the Telanagana Rashtra Samithi, has ruled in Telangana since the state was formed in 2014. The Assembly election will be held on November 30 and counting will be held on December 3. 

Armoor, Nizamabad:

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who is undertaking ‘Vijayabheri Yatra’ on Friday asserted that their struggle is not a mere political contest but is centered around ideology and a “fight of DNA” that is rooted in fundamental principles.

He directed his comments towards the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and expressed his determination to triumph over the BRS in Telangana.

“Our fight is of ideology. This is not a political fight for me but a fight of DNA… We will defeat them (BJP) in every state. We will defeat BRS here in Telangana and we will defeat BJP in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” he added

He further asserted that the election is between BRS and Congress, if you will vote for BJP and AIMIM your vote will be wasted.

The Congress leader further lashed out at BJP and BRS and said, “BJP, BRS and AIMIM are all united and work together. In Delhi, BRS helps the BJP, and in Lok Sabha as well BRS, extends complete support to the BJP, while in Telangana BJP and AIMIA help out BRS.”

Rahul Gandhi pointed out the numerous legal cases against him, his suspension from Lok Sabha membership, and the relinquishing of his residence.

“I fight against the BJP and there are 25-30 cases against me. My Lok Sabha membership was also suspended. They also took my house which I gave happily. I don’t need a house, the whole of India is my home,” said Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi is campaigning in Telangana for a third day. Voting in Telangana for the 119 seats is scheduled to be held on November 30.

Telangana is set to witness an intriguing multi-polar contest between the BRS, Congress and the BJP.

In the previous Assembly elections in 2018, the BRS won 88 of the 119 seats, hogging 47.4 per cent of the total vote share. The Congress finished a distant second with 19 seats and a vote share of 28.7 per cent.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The YSR Telangana Party will contest all 119 seats in next month’s Assembly election, YS Sharmila said Thursday, putting an end to speculation her outfit will ally with the Congress to consolidate votes against the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi. She said she had waited four months for that deal. “Now no one can blame us for splitting the anti-KCR (Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao) vote. We tried our best,” she said, adding she will contest from Palair and maybe a second location too.

Ms Sharmila, who is also Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sister, also said there were demand for her mother YS Vijayalakshmi and husband Anil Kumar to contest. “If needed they will also contest. My mother has said she will do whatever (is) needed to support me. She made that promise when I launched my party… that she will stand by me,” she said.

Telangana will vote on November 30 and results will declared on December 3.

READ | 5 States To Vote From November 7 To 30, Results On December 3

Two weeks ago she had said a “final decision” on any alliance with the Congress will be taken by end-September. “If no alliance fructifies, the party will contest all 119 constituencies,” the party said.

YS Sharmila met Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi last month, after which she claimed “constructive discussions” and warned KCR to expect defeat.

READ | Amid Speculation Of Merger With Congress, YS Sharmila Meets Sonia Gandhi

But Telangana Congress boss Revanth Reddy later told NDTV there was no question of her allying with the national party.

Reports suggested the Congress wanted the YSRTP leader to work with her brother to revive the national party in Andhra Pradesh, which will hold an Assembly election next year.

YS Sharmila ruled that out and her brother has distanced himself from her political activities.

The daughter of a former Congress chief minister, YS Rajasekhar Reddy, Ms Sharmila started the YSRTP in 2021 to bring the YSR family, or ‘Rajanna Rajyam’ to the state – in which both she and her party are electorally untested. As part of her efforts, she went on a 3,800-km state-wide march.

“All my efforts are for Telangana. I am doing everything to improve the condition of the people… so they benefit from the formation of Telangana,” she said after the Delhi trip.