TD Anantapur cadre unhappy with poll boycott decision

ANANTAPUR: TD cadre from most parts of Anantapur district are unhappy with the high command decision to skip the ensuing zilla parishad and mandal parishad elections as the party is strong in many mandals and villages.

In the previous local body elections, the then ruling Telugu Desam won in the maximum number of mandals while YSRC was confined to only a handful. Anantapur ZP chairperson was also from Telugu Desam.

Anantapur has been a traditional TD citadel, particularly after party founder N.T. Rama Rao declared Hindupur as his home turf. Several sections of BC voters were with TD, including in faction-hit areas.

However, the party suffered a serious jolt in the last Assembly polls and had to rest content with wins in only Hindupur and Uravakonda while and YSRC won in 12 segments, including two MP seats. In the recent municipal and gram panchayat polls, TD suffered yet again at the hands of YSRC.

Interestingly, the TD cadre is not happy with the sudden decision taken by party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu as the TD has fielded candidates in 63 mandals. Moreover, not even a single ZPTC has been unanimous for YSRC and elections are a must in the district.

A senior leader from Hindupur Lok Sabha constituency felt that the decision would impact the party’s hold in villages. “Even during serious faction rivalries, we fought in the mandal polls and won a majority of seats against Congress”, the leader from the erstwhile Penukonda area recalled.

It may be noted that former Tadipatri legislator JC Prabhakar Reddy won as municipal chairman. Similarly, party cadre was keen on contesting in all mandals.

Anantapur ZP chairperson seat is reserved for Scheduled Castes (General).