Desperate to sort out the problem of rebel candidates in the Telangana Assembly elections, the Congress high command has rushed its AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel to Hyderabad this week and he had so far promised MLC and MP seats to around 100 leaders. Still, around 25 Congress rebels remained fray by 22 November, the last date for withdrawal of nominations.
Patel is assisted by Karnataka Congress Minister D.K. Shivakumar, among others. Ironically, Telangana Legislative Council has only 40 MLC seats and eight Rajya Sabha seats and to fulfill the promises made to the rebels, it would take years, commented some of those who had emerged out of a meeting with Patel at a five-star hotel owned by a Congress Rajya Sabha member in Banjara Hills on Thursday.
Of course, Patel could persuade at least 12 prominent rebels by promising them either MLCs or Rajya Sabha seats or other nominated official posts, if the party comes to power after elections. Those who had withdrawn from the fray include former Congress MLA Bikshapathi Yadav from Seri Lingampalli, Amarender Reddy from Miryalaguda and Patel Ramesh Reddy from Suryapet.
But there are 25 others who refused to withdraw, creating problems to the Maha Kutami, consisting of Congress, TDP, Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and CPI. They include Malreddy Ranga Reddy as BSP candidate in Ibrahimpatnam, Hari Naik in Khanapur (ST), Sivakumar Reddy in Narayanapet, Boda Janardhan in Chennur (SC), Narayana Rao Patel in Mudhole and Bilya Naik in Devarakonda (ST).
Of them, Boda Janardhan, who had announced last week that the Congress rebels would float a front and try to secure a common symbol and fight against the official candidate, is adamant. He told this newspaper on phone from Chennur on Friday that Congress top leaders were making empty promises to the rebels to tide over the present crisis by making false promises. “So far, they have promised MLC seats to 80 to 90 rebels, but where are that many seats? Even if they try to accommodate some of them, it would take several years to keep their word. Besides, the AICC leaders are also offering money, and plum nominated posts after the elections. When they cannot honour their word to give tickets to the weaker sections now, how can we trust them later?” asked Janardhan.