Selection of candidate for Cheepurupalli constituency has turned into a big challenge for the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) as top leaders such Ganta Srinivasa Rao and Kala Venkata Rao are reluctant to contest from the constituency, which is currently represented by Minister for Education Botcha Satyanarayana.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao’s loyalists say that it is too late to propose their leader’s name for the seat as he did not have enough time to get a foothold over the segment where YSRCP won the election with a margin of 26,498 votes in 2019.
Meanwhile, former Minister Kala Venkata Rao is reluctant to contest from the seat since his brother ’s son Kimidi Nagarjuna is the in-charge for the constituency. He feels that it would lead to unwanted disputes within the family, while asking the party to consider his name for Etcherla constituency since he had previously won from the constituency.
Mr. Nagarjuna, who has unsuccessfully contested in previous election was reportedly upset with the present developments as the party high command is dilly-dallying over the announcement of his name as the candidate for Cheepurupalli.
TDP’s dilemma over Cheepurupalli candidate has also led to delay in the finalisation of candidate for Vizianagaram MP segment. It suggested both Mr. Venkata Rao and Mr. Nagarjuna to contest for the Lok Sabha seat. However, they refused to do so due to a lot of financial implications and other reasons. TDP Vizianagaram MLA Meesala Geeta is also reluctant to contest, although her name appeared in TDP’s internal IVRS survey.
Pulsus CEO and A.P. Backward Classes Association leader Gedela Srinubabu is also trying to pitch in for a seat. Mr. Srinubabu is confident that he would get the ticket after meeting TDP chief Mr. Chandrababu Naidu in Vijayawada on Tuesday.
Former Mandal Praja Parishad President of Denkada mandal Kandi Chandrasekhar, former marketing committee chairman and Etcherla leader Kalisetti Appala Naidu are also in the race for Vizianagaram Parliament seat. TDP high command may finalise the names for both Cheepurupalli and Vizianagaram Parliament in a couple of days, after observing the credentials of potential contenders for those seats.
