Founder president of Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and former chairman of Telangana Joint Action Committee, Prof Kodandram is likely to contest from the Jangaon constituency, party sources told TNM on Friday.
While earlier it was speculated that the president of TJS would either contest from Warangal or Jangaon, the party leaders have confirmed to TNM that Kodandram will go up against TRS’ Muthireddy Yadagiri Reddy from Jangaon. However, there has not been an official confirmation from Konandram himself yet.
Muthireddy Reddy is the sitting MLA from Jangaon; he previously won against Ponnala Lakshmaiah, the then president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, with a margin of 32,695 votes.
The seat-sharing negotiation with the alliance Congress party also was finalized on Thursday evening. The TJS has been assured 8 seats, while they were demanding for 9 seats.
Party spokesperson, G Venkat Reddy told TNM, “We were demanding for 9 seats of our choice, but they offered us 8 seats. Anyhow, we are satisfied with it.”
According to the TJS leaders, among the eight seats offered to them, five constituencies were finalized on Thursday, while the three constituencies are yet to be finalized, for which Kodandram will leave for New Delhi on Friday.
Party leaders are relieved with the seat-sharing negotiation coming to end and expressed that the candidate list would be announced soon.
The TJS leaders were earlier dejected with the Congress after they were offered 9 seats, out of which 6 of them were strongholds of AIMIM and TRS which included Siddipet and Chandrayangutta. However, as the TPCC didn’t consider the demands of TJS, Kodandram met Rahul Gandhi at his residence last week and ensured that their party got a fair share of seats.
Kodandram was one among the key leaders in the Telangana statehood movement. However, after state’s formation, he was sidelined by TRS party chief K Chandrasekhar Rao. KCR claims that he had offered by him an MP seat, which Kodandram declined.
Their relationship strained further after Kodandram criticized the rule of the TRS regime on numerous occasions. The government led by KCR also attempted to stop gatherings and protests organized by Kondandram by denying them permission to hold the same.
After pressure from the TJAC leaders to float a party, Kodandram finally launched his party—Telangana Jana Samithi—on April 29 earlier this year.