Migrants' to TD aim to gain vacant MLC seat
Term of the sitting member set to end in March.
Nellore: TD leaders have started lobbying for the MLC seat for local bodies with the tenure of the sitting member, Vakati Narayana Reddy, coming to an end by March. Interestingly, all those aspiring for the TD ticket are migrants from the Congress.
They include former ministers Adala Prabhakar Reddy, Anam brothers Ramananarayana Reddy and Vivekananda Reddy and sitting member Vakati Narayana Reddy. While Adala embraced TD before the election and contested for Nellore Lok Sabha seat unsuccessfully, Vakati switched over after the party came to power.
The Anam brothers entered the party last year, almost two years after it took the reins of the state. Senior leaders of TD said Prabhakar Reddy has been claiming for the seat under the plea that he joined the party before the election even when there was optimism over YSRC forming next government. His close followers said, “he is not lobbying for the seat and weighing pros and cons with next general elections only two years away.”
The Anam brothers have been telling their group that the Chief Minister had promised them MLC seat but not specific whether it is local body seat or quota of legislators or Governor. They will be ready for any option because this gives them a protocol post, a TD leader said.
Vakati Narayana Reddy, meanwhile, is confident of securing the seat because of his proximity to the Chief Minister and other leaders in Telugu Desam. He is also maintaining rapport with minister P. Narayana and makes it a point to be present during his tours in the district.
A section in TD feels that the notices served to his firms for defaulting to banks in the recent past may cast a shadow on his chances even while maintaining that he is not the only politician facing such situation in the ruling party.
A senior TD leader said party leaders of the district are wary of giving any post to the Anam family because of fear over their domination. In fact a section in the party had tried to prevent their entry into the party but the party chief
Chandrababu Naidu was determined on bringing them in to provide a strong leadership for the party in the district. The senior leader said the Chief Minister was yet to discuss the subject with them but this may happen within next two weeks.