HYDERABAD: Former legislator Gangula Pratap Reddy, who has been averse to contesting the Allagadda seat on Congress tickct, is, afater all, likely to be the party’s candidate.Though Reddy had said initially that he was not keen on contesting the seat on Congress ticket because of the party’s ambiguous position on the late YSR, he has fallen in line with the intervention of chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana and ministers from Kurnool district Erasu Pratap Redy and TG Venkatesh.A meeting of top Congress leaders of the state the chief minister’s camp office here on Friday morning decided to accommodate the request of Gangula Pratap Reddy that the party bear the entire expenses of the Allagadda byelection since he believed that the Congress’ prospects of winning the election were poor.Only two days ago he had hinted that he would not hesitate to leave the Congress and join the YSR Congress Party.According to sources, his threat was intended to bring pressure on the Congress to fund the election. He does not have real intention of joining the YSRCP since he and Bhuma Nagi Reddy (husband of Shobha Nagi Reddy) do not see eye to eye. Nor is he welcome in the YSR Congress.“There is no question of Pratap Reddy joining the YSR Congress. There is an age-old rivalry between the two families. He is not welcome in Allagadda,” said one YSRCP leader.The Congress’ disadvantage is that it does not have an alternative candidate in Allagadda and if it lets Pratap Reddy slip away, he might work against the interests of the party. This would, in a away, help Telugu Desam’s Irigela Ramapulla Reddy improve his performance. That was the reason why the two top leaders of the Congress _ the chief minister and the PCC president _ persuaded Gangula.Meanwhile, selection of candidate for Anantapur Urban is more or less over with the party leaders deciding to field Anantapur town Congress president Rasheed Ahmed as the Congress nominee. Though his wife Musheeda Begum had been favoured initially, the Congress finally decided to field him.The party looked for a minority candidate after Parliament member Antanta Venkatarami Reddy’s brother Subba Reddy showed reluctance to contest.This apart, the JC Diwakar Reddy faction in the district too opposed the candidacy of Subba Reddy. The chief minister and the PCC President discussed the issue with Ananta Venkatarami Reddy and finalised Ahmed’s name on Friday.
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