Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Jagan may not campaign

PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL

Battle-ready: A Congress candidate taking out a procession from Marredpally for filing nomination papers for the GHMC elections on Friday. -

HYDERABAD: Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy may not campaign for the party candidates in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls in wake of the controversy over outsiders finding place in the official list of 130 nominees.

An indication to this effect was available on Friday, when close camp followers of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy -- B. Raji Reddy, Bhikshapati Yadav, Akula Rajender, Kuna Srisailam Goud and Jayasudha -- felt that in the prevailing circumstances, it was not wise to involve him in the campaign.

Though the high command has not yet given any signal to Mr. Jagan to campaign, plans were afoot to involve him in electioneering in constituencies represented by YSR loyalists.

As per the plans, pro-Jagan camp wanted him to extensively tour Serilingampally, Kukatpally, Qutubullapur, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad and Uppal constituencies. The leaders feared that if the party fared badly despite the Kadapa MP’s campaign, his detractors would launch an all out campaign to embarrass him.

Meanwhile, the trouble over distribution of tickets appeared to be far from over as three MLAs K. Laxma Reddy, Bhikshapati Yadav and Raji Reddy airdashed to New Delhi to lodge a formal complaint against Health Minister Danam Nagender. They contended that despite raising the issue continuously for the last three days, the Core Committee failed to consult the parliamentarians or the legislators.

With several party MLAs hardening their stand, the party may face a serious threat from rebel candidates in 50 divisions.

At a press conference, APCC general secretaries – G. Niranjan, Rapolu Anand Bhaskar and S. Lakshminarayana – denied the charge that tickets were sold. They said the selection was done in a foolproof manner.

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