Photo: Followers of Gandra Venkataramana Reddy protesting at Warangal District Congress office
Both ruling Congress party and opposition Telugu Desam party are thoroughly confused over the Parkal bypolls. The high drama witnessed yesterday only confirmed how desparate these two parties are to retain their deposits in this election.
There is a serious infighting going on in Congress over the allotment of ticket. While Gandra Jyothy, wife of Congress chief whip Gandra Venkataramana Reddy, has already started her campaign, the Congress high command is planning to give ticket to another person.
Speculation is rife that the “other person” is none other than ex-ZP chairman and TDP leader Sambari Samma Rao. Adding credence to this speculation, Samma Rao announced yesterday that he is resigning to the Telugu Desam party.
Yesterday evening, several news channels beamed the news that Sambari Samma Rao is being given the Congress ticket for Parkal. Irked by this last minute u-turn, followers of Gandra Venkataramana Reddy staged a dharna in front of the DCC office in Warangal.
However, Congress party gave a statement yesterday night that they have not yet finalized the candidate for Parkal constituency.
Telugu Desam Party, which is already in a very bad shape in Telangana, fears that the exit of Sambari Samma Rao, a noted local leader, will further damage the party’s prospects in the region.