Politicians lobbying for tickets for their kith and kin is nothing new in Indian politics. One has seen it in several elections, including the latest round of state elections in five states. But what is happening within the Congress for the party ticket to the Secunderabad Cantonment constituency is something rather new. A father-in-law is lobbying for a ticket, asking the party to deny it to his son-in-law.
With his work on the ground in the last three years and an active participant in the agitation for Telangana before that, M Krishank, an Osmania University student leader who joined the Congress, was always the frontrunner to get the ticket. He has been leading from the front when it comes to articulating people’s issues in this reserved constituency in the state capital. His `basti nidras’ that involve spending the night in a slum, listening to their woes, sharing their dinner and sleeping under a tent, have helped him develop a connect with the urban poor. He also has a rapport with Rahul Gandhi and his team and with the party’s emphasis on fielding new and young faces, atleast on paper, Krishank fits the bill.
Enter his father-in-law Sarvey Satyanarayana, former Union minister in the UPA. He has also thrown his hat into the ring, staking his claim to the Secunderabad Cantt seat. His argument is that he is a senior face of the Congress, who has represented the constituency in 1985 on a Telugu Desam ticket. He was subsequently MP from Malkajgiri in 2009 and Secunderabad Cantt is one of the assembly segments under it.
This family feud is making matters difficult for the Congress leadership. It is
neither able to refuse a senior leader like Satyanarayana nor does it see merit in rejecting a fresh face like Krishank who has nurtured the constituency, after being informally promised the ticket.
In order to make Satyanarayana give way, a diktat was issued from Delhi to all former MPs who are contesting the assembly elections. They were told that in case they lose, they cannot expect a ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Alternately word was reportedly sent to Satyanarayana that if he withdrew from the race, he would be fielded from Nagarkurnool seat which is considered a safe seat for the Congress.
But Satyanarayana is reportedly keen to contest because he believes a Dalit MLA has a good chance to become CM, if the Congress-led Grand Alliance comes to power in Telangana. He is banking on the anti-incumbency that exists against four-time MLA G Sayanna, who was elected in 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2014 on a TDP ticket. Sayanna subsequently migrated to the TRS and has been fielded by the pink party this time.
Satyanarayana’s last two elections resulted in defeats. In 2014, he lost the Lok Sabha election from Malkajgiri and the following year, suffered a crushing defeat in the byelection from Warangal Lok Sabha constituency.
The process of nominations opened on Monday and the Alliance list after several rounds of discussions is set to be announced on November 13. Krishank is hoping that the Congress will keep its word to give one seat to a student leader from Osmania University and among five claimants to such a quota seat, he has the best credentials.
His Plan B is to make it a family battle as an independent candidate or approach the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for its elephant symbol. While conventional logic says that may end up helping Sayanna as he will split up the anti-TRS vote in the constituency, it is also quite possible that the Cantonment electorate could take a break from voting for familiar names who have represented them all for the last three and a half decades and plump for a new energetic candidate.
It is not Krishank who is on test, it is the Congress that is being tested.
umasudhir.com 