Hyderabad: Apprehensive that ticket distribution might not go down well with several leaders from across the state, the Congress in Telangana has stationed around 20 bouncers outside its office in Hyderabad to avoid any violent backlash.
While disappointment over missing out on a party ticket is to be expected, the Congress anticipates the reaction from hopefuls could be particularly hostile this time around because of its decision to form a grand alliance with the Telugu Desam Party, CPI and Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS).
The seat sharing arrangement has not yet been finalised and is likely to be decided by Thursday or Friday. According to early indications, the Congress may contest from 96 seats and leave 23 for the allies. The TDP, TJS and CPI are reportedly seeking 18, 14, and at least five seats respectively as part of seat-sharing.
Even if the Congress manages to get its way, it would still mean 23 less tickets for Congress hopefuls.
Early signs of the reactions the candidates list could elicit were visible on Sunday, when a supporter of Congress leader Bhikshapathy Yadav from Serlingampally constituency tried to self-immolate at the party office after there were talks that a TDP leader could get the ticket from the seat in case of an alliance.
So, as a preventive measure, the party stationed at least 20 private security guards at the office to handle the days ahead.
Several senior Congress leaders such as Revanth Reddy, Gudur Narayana Reddy have also approached the state director general of Police M. Mahender Reddy for special security ahead of the elections, according to sources.
However, sources from the party told News18 that such activity is quite common at the time of elections and these are preventive measures to avoid any sort of violence ahead of the polls.
Last week, the BJP office in Nizamabad was vandalized by supporters of party member Dhanpal Suryanarayana Gupta after his name did not make it to the list of candidates announced by the party