Telangana elections 2023: Cong to accept applications at payment of Rs 50K

Karnataka unit Congress charged Rs 2 lakh from the aspiring candidates of the general category while it charged Rs 1 lakh from SC/ST applicants in the Assembly polls held earlier in May

The Telangana Congress will start accepting applications from candidates planning to contest the state Assembly elections at a payment of Rs 50,000, beginning Friday, a senior party leader was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India (PTI).

In line with the Karnataka Congress model, the Telangana unit will charge Rs 25,000 as an "applying" fee for the aspiring candidates of SC, ST, and the physically challenged categories and Rs 50,000 for the rest.

Previously, the Karnataka unit of the party charged Rs 2 lakh, along with applications and other documents from the aspiring candidates of the general category, while it was Rs 1 lakh for SC/ST applicants in the Assembly polls held earlier in May 2023, the PTI report said.

The Congress has formed a three-member sub-committee headed by former deputy chief minister Damodar Raja Narasimha to formulate modalities to choose candidates for the polls, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president Mahesh Kumar Goud, one of the members of the panel, said.

"By this afternoon, we will be uploading the necessary forms to be filled up by the candidates. Applicants will have to fill up the form and submit it along with a DD (Rs 50,000 or Rs 25,000) before August 25," Goud told PTI.

He further said though the sub-committee recommended Rs 25,000 (for the general category), the party's top leadership fixed Rs 50,000 as the fee.

In addition to this, the aspiring candidates will also need to share their social media handles along with other relevant information so that the party could conduct a background check, a senior TPCC leader said.

The Pradesh Election Committee will meet during the first week of September and scrutinise all the applications and make recommendations to the AICC.

Goud said the party did not charge any amount during the last two Assembly polls organised in 2018 and 2014. However, the party charged Rs 10,000 in the 2009 polls.

He said that the "applying fee" will help keep non-serious candidates away from putting their names forward for the Telangana Assembly elections.

Telangana Assembly elections 2023

The current Telangana Assembly completes its term in January 2024 and is expected to go for elections in December 2023. The state is currently ruled by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) under the leadership of K Chandrashekhar Rao, who has been the state's Chief Minister since it was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in June 2014.