[1]Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana, who arrived in Delhi on Monday, held marathon sessions with AICC leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi over selection of candidates for the byelections to 18 Assembly seats. The final list of candidates will be announced on Tuesday. The state leaders met AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mrs Gandhi’s special emissary Vayalar Ravi and discussed the names of candidates that were shortlisted.
Later in the evening all the leaders met the Congress president at her residence for half-an-hour. Sources said Mrs Gandhi specifically instr-ucted the state leadership to ensure the party's candidates win in at least half of the constituencies that are going for bypolls. She reportedly told them to select candidates who would win, and ensure representation is given to backward and minority communities, based on the population strengths. After meeting Mrs Gandhi, they returned to Mr Azad’s residence to finalise the list. The meeting lasted for more than five hours.
FRONT RUNNERS
* T. Subbarami Reddy (for Nellore Lok Sabha)
* Dharmana Ramdas (Narasannapet)
* Thota Trimurtulu (Ramachandrapuram),
* Kottapalli Subbarayudu (Narsapuram)
* Magunta Parvatamma (Ongole)
* M. Venkata Ramana (Tirupati)
* Patil Venugopal Reddy (Rayadurgam)
* Rudra Goud (Yemmiganur)
* Gangula Pratap Reddy (Allagadda)
UNDECIDED OVER
* Payakaraopet
* Polavaram
* Prattipadu
* Macherla
* Udayagiri
* Anantapur
* Rayachoti
* Rajampet
* Koduru
* Parkal
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/soniagandhijpgcropdisplayjpg-719