Prof M Kodandaram, the chief of the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS), which is a part of the mahakutami, will not be contesting in the upcoming Telangana polls. Instead, if the alliance comes to power, he would be made the chairman of the common minimum programme (CMP). The CMP outlines what the coalition government plans to do during its tenure.
“This is in the form of a resolution of the alliance partners. Some of these proposals were long pending, but finally, they were put in written form,” Prof Kodandaram told TNM. He will reportedly be campaigning for candidates.
The Telangana Congress is presently leading a grand alliance (mahakutami) in the state against the incumbent Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) along with Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the TJS and the Communist Party of India (CPI). The TJS had initially demanded 17 seats as part of the mahakutami but the Congress had announced only 8. However, in a jolt to the alliance, the TJS said that they would be contesting 12 seats. Among these was Jangaon, where it was speculated that Prof Kodandaram would contest from.
As part of the Congress’ third list that was released on Saturday, the Jangaon seat went to former Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah. Lakshmaiah had rushed to the Congress’ war room in New Delhi and expressed his frustration at being denied the Jangaon ticket, claiming that it would be unjust to the BC community. Interestingly, when Lakshmaiah was the sitting TPCC president he lost the Jangaon seat in 2014 to Muthireddy Yadagiri Reddy of the TRS.
With the ticket being given to the Congress, a resolution was taken to make Prof Kodandaram the chairman of the committee to implement the CMP.
The decision was reportedly brokered in a meeting with Congress secretary in-charge of Telangana RC Khuntia, TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy and Ponnala Laksmaiah late on Friday night. Following this, the TJS announced the names of four candidates who will be contesting – Kapilavai Dilip Kumar from Malkajgiri, Bhavani Reddy from Siddipet, Janardhan Reddy from Medak and Chindam Raj Kumar from Dubbak.
The state will go to the polls on December 7 and counting of votes will take place on December 11. The last date for filing nominations is November 19.