The Congress party’s internal battles over the distribution of tickets for elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) spilled over to the streets on Friday, when hundreds of agitated partymen staged ugly demonstrations alleging that money was paid for selection of candidates.
They pointed an accusing finger at APCC president D. Srinivas and Greater Hyderabad Congress Committee (GHCC) chief Danam Nagender accusing them of ignoring genuine partymen and selecting outsiders.
The release of the first list of 130 candidates on Thursday sparked protests by disgruntled partymen who sat in dharna outside the residences of Mr. Nagender as well as Mr. Srinivas on Friday. The ruckus took its toll as the party failed to release names of candidates for the remaining 20 divisions.
As a fallout of the wild reaction, Mr. Nagender resigned as the City Congress chief. He called on Mr. Srinivas and submitted his resignation on the ground that he was hurt by allegations that he sold tickets. At least six MLAs -- T. Manemma, K. Laxma Reddy, Kuna Srisailam Goud, Akula Rajender, B. Raji Reddy and Bhikshapati Yadav -- accused him of allotting tickets to outsiders and unknown faces. Three of them – Mr. Laxma Reddy, Mr. Raji Reddy and Mr. Yadav – even threatened to resign as MLAs.
A high voltage drama was witnessed outside Mr. Srinivas’ residence in Jubilee Hills where infuriated cadres gathered in large numbers to register protest. Gandhi Bhavan, the party headquarters, was the target of stone pelting and witness to an aborted attempt by a party worker to set himself on fire after dousing himself with kerosene.
Led by former corporator D. Mohan, they stoutly opposed allotment of the ticket for Gunfoundry division to Madhu Goud, brother of BC Welfare Minister M. Mukesh Goud.
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