Nominations for Telangana assembly polls close, last minute changes in parties lists irks candidates

Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy was among those who filed nomination papers on Friday, the last day for submitting nominations for the November 30 Legislative Assembly elections in the state.Revanth Reddy was accompanied by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah when he filed the nomination from Kamareddy constituency, where he is taking on Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. Revanth Reddy is also in the fray from Kodangal which he had represented earlier.

Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy was among those who filed nomination papers on Friday, the last day for submitting nominations for the November 30 Legislative Assembly elections in the state.

Revanth Reddy was accompanied by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah when he filed the nomination from Kamareddy constituency, where he is taking on Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. Revanth Reddy is also in the fray from Kodangal which he had represented earlier. Rao is also contesting from Gajwel where he is the sitting MLA. Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Uttam Kumar Reddy submitted his nomination from Huzurnagar segment. Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda participated in a rally held on the occasion of BJP's nominee from Banswada Endala Lakshminarayana filing his nomination. Meanwhile, BJP released its 5th and final list of 14 candidates this morning, but later the state unit issued a statement making changes to the list. According to BJP sources, the party has fielded candidates from 111 out of the total 119 assembly segments, leaving eight seats to its NDA ally Janasena of actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan. In a video aired by news channels, Tula Uma, whose name was announced as the BJP candidate from Vemulawada assembly seat, was seen in tears while addressing mediapersons after the ticket was reportedly given to another candidate. ''It had to be construed that the party is anti-backward classes and women,'' she told reporters. Patel Ramesh Reddy, a Congress ticket aspirant in Suryapet, was also upset over being denied ticket. The Congress has allocated one seat to CPI in the elections as part of an understanding between the two parties. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer here said 1,133 nominations were filed up to 3 PM on October 9. The updated list as on today was yet to be released. The process of filing nominations began on November 3 when the gazette notification for the election was issued and a large number of nominations were filed as it was considered an auspicious day. Polling for the 119-member Assembly would be held on November 30, while counting of votes would be taken up on December 3.