Visakhapatnam: Ministers Dharmana Prasada Rao and Botsa Satyanarayana seem to have urged chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to change the MLC candidate for North Andhra Graduates Constituency, Seethamraju Sudhakar. He was selected by the party in July.
According to reliable sources, both the ministers met the chief minister and explained to him the setbacks the party would suffer if Sudhakar was fielded. They explained to him that north Andhra region with a BC strength of 95 per cent might not vote for him, a Brahmin.
Sudhakar is currently chairman of AP Brahmin Corporation and eying for a place in the assembly or the legislative council.
A senior party leader rejected such talk. “We have no such information about the two ministers discussing the matter with Jagan. But rumours are that the ministers and some MLAs were not happy with the selection of Sudhakar,’’ he said.
The party’s lower-rung leaders said Sudhakar was not seen much in public life and “there is also no record of his contributions” to the party. True, he lived in Visakhapatnam South constituency for generations, they said.
Another party leader said the selection of Sudhakar was a strategic move by the party’s coordinator for Vizag, Anakapalli and ASR district Y.V. Subba Reddy.
Sudhakar, aspiring for the Visakhapatnam South constituency, has been vigorously participating in the Gadapa Gadapaku programme in the constituency. This has upset the sitting TDP MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar, who jumped to the YSRC and sought nomination. Kumar won twice from the constituency.
When Kumar complained to Subba Reddy about the intervention of Sudhakar in his constituency, the latter snubbed him and asked him to prove his worth. Kumar immediately submitted his letter of withdrawal from the party’s responsibilities. Later, he withdrew the letter after he was cajoled by the senior party leaders.
“Ganesh Kumar’s resentment might have prompted Subba Reddy to withdraw Sudhakar from Visakhapatnam South constituency and suggest his name as MLC candidate,” a party source said.
Before the reorganization of the districts, the constituency had 1.55 lakh voters, of which 108 lakh cast their vote in the 2017 elections. BJP’s PVN Madhav won the election with the support of TD. At present, there are five lakh graduates in the constituency and voter enrolment began from October 1.
