Major reshuffle in YSRC leadership for upcoming elections in Chittoor and Tirupati

Tirupati: The ruling YSRC has changed its candidates for the upcoming elections in six constituencies across Chittoor and Tirupati districts.

As per the third list released on Thursday night, representatives of six constituencies have been changed while alternative names have been announced for three of these constituencies.

The major changes are: Tirupati MP M Gurumurthy is shifted to the Satyavedu assembly constituency, currently held by MLA Koneti Adimoolam. He will now contest the Lok Sabha election from Tirupati.

Chittoor MLA Arani Srinivasulu has been denied the ticket and he is likely to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

The other sitting MLAs who failed to find their names in the list include V Varaprasada Rao who held the Gudur assembly seat, MS Babu who held Puthalapattu and Nawaz Basha who represented Madanapalle. They have been replaced by MLC Meriga Muralidhar, Dr. Muttirevula Sunil Kumar and Nishar Ahmed respectively.

These changes have caused quite a stir, as the dropped candidates are unhappy with these decisions.

Both Maddila Gurumurthy and Adimoolam were keen to contest from their sitting seats again.

The grassroots level workers were also disappointed.

In Gudur, MLC Meriga Muralidhar has replaced Varaprasada Rao. The non-political background of Rao is seen as the reason for his ouster.

Muralidhar enjoys the backing of influential leaders in the YSRC like Nedurumalli Ramkumar Reddy and Kovuru MLA Nallapureddy Prasannakumar Reddy. However, resistance continues from Shyam Prasad Reddy's group, which has greater clout locally compared to the other two leaders.

In Puthalapattu, MLA MS Babu who has a strong base among the Dalit villagers has been replaced by Dr Muttirevula Sunil Kumar. The local Reddy community leaders, who had supported MS Babu, now feel sidelined and they might not work towards Sunil’s victory.

Similarly, Nawaz Basha's replacement with newcomer Nishar Ahmed in Madanapalle has upset Basha's powerful local faction. To make matters worse, former MLA Shahjahan Basha quitting the party will also split the minority votes here.

The Balija community in Chittoor segment is upset over the dropping of MLA Arani Srinivasulu. He was replaced by APSRTC vice-chairman Vijayananda Reddy. Balijas are an influential electoral segment in Chittoor district. There are reports they would vote against the YSRC this time to express their displeasure over Srinivasulu’s removal.