Mohammed Azharuddin or Anjan Kumar Yadav likely to get Congress Secunderabad ticket

HYDERABAD: Congress is considering the name of its Telangana working president, Mohammed Azharuddin, as a candidate from the Secunderabad parliamentary constituency, top party sources said. Former MP Anjan Kumar Yadav, who has represented the Secunderabad constituency twice in the past, is the other strong contender for the party ticket.
Sources said one of the two are likely to get the go ahead from the party high command.A senior party leader said, “A list of 2 to 3 candidates with winning prospects for each of the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state will be sent to the party high command. The party wants to prepare the list by January end or February first week.”
Azhar has on several occasions expressed interest in contesting LS elections from Secunderabad. The former cricket captain’s name is being forwarded to Congress president Rahul Gandhi for a final call.
Azharuddin, a former MP from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, has never contested from his home state Telangana or undivided Andhra Pradesh. He had successfully contested from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh in 2009, but lost from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Another star campaigner, Vijayashanti’s name is under consideration for Medak or Khammam constituencies. However, the party is likely to leave it to Vijayashanti to take a call. Former Union minister Renuka Choudhary, AICC secretary and former MP V Hanumantha Rao, former AICC secretary Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, are also in the race for Khammam LS seat. Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, who recently joined Congress from TRS, is a frontrunner for Chevella seat.