The Congress party giving ticket to the former TDP leader Sambari Samma Rao has raised eye-brows of many political analysts in the state and was opposed by the Government chief whip Gandra Venkata Ramana.  The chief whip has launched a protest in front of the chief minister’s camp office in Hyderabad on Wednesday. It may be noted that Samma Rao was given the ticket to Parakala Constituency to contest in the by-polls. While he staged protest, he was supported and accompanied by a large number of his loyalists in the party.

Samma Rao down down, this slogan echoed the entire premises of chief minister’s office as press cameras captured the protestors with banners and placards. All of them were of the demand that the party ticket be given to Gandra Jyothi, wife of the chief whip. Even she was present with her husband and raised slogans against Samma Rao.

The chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy who plunged into the action to calm down the agitators, has promised that the matter will be discussed with the high command. They held responsible the PCC chief Bothsa Satyanarayana, Baswaraju Saraiah, MP S Rajaih and Balaram Naik for giving ticket to Samma Rao, who was yet to join the Congress party formally.

The chief whip was of the opinion that the workers of the party were upset with the entire episode and were not in a position to welcome the decision of giving ticket to a TDP leader.

It has to be mentioned here that Samma Rao served the Congress party for more than a decade before he joined the Telugu Desam Party in 2001. All in all, it looks like the nomination of TD leader will effect the Congress party as its followers, activists and leaders are likely to lose confidence on the party. (Phani)