In its third and latest list, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leadership has swapped the positions of Tirupati Member of Parliament M. Gurumoorthy and Satyavedu MLA Koneti Adimoolam for the forthcoming elections and it is being viewed as a “bold gamble” in the political circles.
The Tirupati Lok Sabha seat and Satyavedu Assembly constituency are reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the swapping was easier as far as the caste equation is concerned. Interestingly, Dr. Gurumoorthy is the second YSRCP MP to be relegated to an Assembly constituency under the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat he is representing now. Former MP and retired bureaucrat V. Varaprasada Rao had to meet the same fate when the YSRCP ticked his name for Gudur Assembly (SC) constituency in the run-up to the elections in 20219.
A physiotherapist by profession, Dr. Gurumoorthy was close to the inner circles of the family of YSRCP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohn Reddy.
He accompanied Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy throughout his padayatra the latter undertook in the run-up to the 2019 elections and rendered professional service. In return, the political experts say, he was rewarded him with the MP candidature during the by-election in 2021.
As an MP, Dr. Gurumoorthy raised several issues in the Parliament on developmental projects related to railway, airport and higher educational institutions including the vexatious issue of ensuring the balanced development of the bird sanctuary in Pulicat Lake. He also broached the pending projects by personally calling on the Union Ministers and bureaucrats to obtain the necessary clearances.
Safe candidate
As Mr. Adimoolam has been facing the heat from dissidents in his Satyavedu constituency, the YSRCP, sources said, was looking for a ‘safe candidate’ to retain the constituency which is backward expect the presence of the Sri City industrial city.
Sources also said that a section of the party cadre was perplexed about fitting Dr. Gurumoorthy in a smaller role in a constituency, which is not his home turf. Another section of the cadre is said to be in a dilemma over the YSRCP leadership’s decision to give a “larger-than-life role” to Mr. Adimoolam, who is said to be not “quite familiar beyond the Assembly constituency he is representing now”.
