The Telangana Congress is set to start accepting applications from aspirants for the state assembly elections, expected to be held towards the end of the year. Senior Congress leaders told the media that aspiring candidates could start filing their applications from Friday, August 18. The Telangana Congress is going to charge an ‘application fee’ from aspirants as did the Karnataka Congress earlier this year
According to Telangana Pradesh Congress President Revanth Reddy Rs 50,000 will be charged per application in the general category, but the fees will be halved for the physically challenged and for those from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The party did not charge any application fee during the two previous Assembly elections in 2014 and 2018. However, a fee of Rs 10,000 was charged from candidates during the 2009 elections.
Revanth Reddy, the President of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, said that the fees were non-refundable and would be used for party activities. This decision was made by the three-member sub-committee formed by the Congress, headed by former deputy chief minister Damodar Raja Narasimha. The committee also decided on the criteria for picking candidates for the polls, reports said.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee Working President Mahesh Kumar Goud, another member of the sub-committee, told the press that the forms would be uploaded on the party’s website by Friday afternoon and filled out ones would have to be sent in before August 25.
A senior Congress leader told the media that candidates would also have to mention their social media handles in their applications so that the party could do the necessary background checks.
The sub-committee is expected to meet during the first week of September to scrutinise the applications and will make recommendations to the All India Congress Committee (AICC).