In a major disappointment for former Indian cricket captain and politician Mohammed Azharuddin, the Congress party has denied him seats in both Secunderabad and Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituencies. This is the first time that the Congress has denied him a ticket.
Azharuddin, who has never contested in his home state of Telangana, was looking to contest from the Secunderabad seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, faced with strong protests by two-time MP Anjan Kumar Yadav, who is the president of the Greater Hyderabad Congress Committee (GHCC) and a party strongman in Secunderabad, Azharuddin had to step back.
It was then speculated that Azharuddin would be pitted against AIMIM heavyweight Asaduddin Owaisi in the Hyderabad constituency. However, the former cricketer’s hopes were crushed when on Monday the Congress allocated the Secunderabad and Hyderabad seats to Anjan Kumar Yadav and Feroz Khan respectively.
Interestingly, Feroz Khan, AIMIM’s arch nemesis, had even contested in the recent Assembly elections, only to be defeated by the AIMIM’s Jaffar Hussain by a margin of 9,675 votes. However, the Congress seems to have retained faith in this mass leader, who enjoys good support in Nampally.
Anjan Kumar Yadav, on the other hand, is a two-time MP from Secunderabad. He lost the last elections to Bandaru Dattatreya from the BJP.
Azharuddin had joined the Congress party in 2009 and won from the Moradabad Parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh in the general elections held that year. In the subsequent election, he unsuccessfully contested from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur Parliamentary constituency in Rajasthan.
On Monday, the Congress announced the names of 8 candidates who had been given tickets for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Notable among them is senior leader Madhu Yakshi who will be pitted against sitting MP and daughter of Chief Minister KCR, Kalvakuntla Kavitha.
Strangely, Telangana Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, who had won the MLA seat from Huzurnagar, will also be contesting for the MP seat from Nalgonda. Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, who was defeated in the Nalgonda Assembly seat, will be contesting from Bhongir. With this, the party has announced candidates for all the 17 Parliamentary constituencies except Khammam.
The Lok Sabha polls in Telangana will be held on April 11. The results will be announced on May 23.