Anantapur: Telugu Desam has succeeded in convincing its alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party to drop its demand for the Hindupur Lok Sabha constituency.
Following this, TDP has announced that its Satya Sai district party president and former Penukonda MLA B.K. Parthasarathi will be its candidate from the Hindupur parliament seat.
The development comes in the wake of Telugu Desam leaders belonging to the Hindupur Lok Sabha area, including sitting Hindupur MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna, opposing allotment of the parliamentary seat to BJP. The TD leaders had been worried that if the Lok Sabha seat goes to BJP, it will impact the prospects of TDP candidates contesting from assembly seats within the Lok Sabha constituency.
Incidentally, former TD MLC from Madakasira area G. Thippeswamy had been expecting the ticket from the Hindupur Lok Sabha constituency. Thippeswamy’s supporters are dissatisfied with the party high command’s decision to nominate Parthasarathi from the seat. Thippeswamy is under pressure from his supporters to quit the TDP on being denied the MP seat, sources said.
Parthasarathi himself had been hoping that he will be fielded from the Penukonda assembly constituency. But the TD has allotted the seat to K. Savitha.
There had been a stage when BJP had mounted tremendous on TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu to allot it the Hindupur Lok Sabha seat. At that time, the TD high command had reportedly offered the Anantapur Lok Sabha seat to Parthasarathi.
YSRC has already announced that J. Santha, former MP from Bellary in Karnataka, will be its nominee from the Hindupur Lok Sabha ticket. The ruling party has decided against fielding sitting MP Gorantla Madhav from the seat after his alleged nude videos went viral on social media. Fielding Madhav from the seat would have damaged YSRC’s image.
The ruling party leadership has also ordered Madhav to refrain from campaigning for YSRC in the forthcoming elections
