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Suspense continues over Sonia seat

Shireen in Hyderabad

Congress president Sonia Gandhi's departure from Hyderabad has been delayed.

She was expected to fly out of Hyderabad at 1000 hours to file the nomination in 'her' constituency. A helicopter is still waiting at the Begumpet airport in Hyderabad to fly her to 'her' constituency.

Sources say that she was yet to make up her mind.

The Congress may announce the name of the constituency before her departure.

The final choice of the constituency-- Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh or Bellary in neighbouring Karnataka-- was kept a closely guarded secret even as she arrived in Hyderabad by a regular Indian Airlines flight on Tuesday night for an overnight halt.

"In a few hours, you would know," Andhra Pradesh Congress unit president Y S Rajasekhar Reddy told waiting newsmen after calling on Sonia Gandhi at the Raj Bhavan guest house, where she was staying.

"The Congress president will file her nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections from a constituency I don't know," he laughed.

Asked if she would seek election from Cuddapah, Dr Rajasekhar Reddy said, "It will be my privilege and great honour if she chooses to contest from Cuddapah. I have renewed my request to her to contest from Cuddapah. I will be very happy if she obliges us."

To repeated queries, he said, "She has not indicated her mind, whether she will contest from Cuddapah or Bellary. We will let you know. "

Rajasekhar Reddy told newsmen that he was leaving for Cuddapah 'due to prior engagements'. It was more than a coincidence that SPG commandos also went to Cuddapah. The Hyderabad airport authorities also indicated that a helicopter has been requisitioned to fly Sonia Gandhi to 'her' constituency today.

AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, however, sounded different.

Asked if she would contest from Cuddapah, Azad said, "Who said it? But it cannot be ruled out."

To another query whether she would contest from Bellary in neighbouring Karnataka, he shot back, "Why should she come to AP if she has to contest from Karnataka?"

Both Bellary and Cuddapah are considered 'safe' seats for the Congress.

While Cuddapah was represented in the dissolved Lok Sabha by Dr Rajasekhar Reddy, the Bellary seat was held by K C Kondaiah. In fact, Dr Rajasekhar Reddy has been elected for four consecutive terms from Cuddapah (1989, 1991, 1996 and 1998).

Dr Rajasekhar Reddy has opted to contest the assembly election from Pulivendula while his younger brother and legislator Y S Vivekananda Reddy filed his nomination from the Cuddapah Lok Sabha constituency. The last date for filing of nominations is today.

Similarly, Bellary is held by the Congress since the first general election in 1952. Not a single non-Congress candidate has been elected from Bellary so far. The sitting member of the 12th Lok Sabha, K C Kondaiah has been elected for three consecutive terms.

In the last election, the Congress won the Bellary and Cuddapah seats by margins of 63,738 and 53,620 votes, trouncing the Lok Shakti and Telugu Desam Party respectively.

Unlike Bellary, which is a peaceful constituency, Cuddapah is faction-ridden and violence-prone. In June1991, the Lok Sabha election in Cuddapah was countermanded following the murder of an independent candidate. Subsequently, the poll was held in November 1991.

Another problem with Cuddapah is the high fluctuations in the winning margins of the Congress which ranged from as low as 5,445 in 1996 and 53,620 in 1998 to 166,752 in 1989 and 418,894 votes in 1991.

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