Visakhapatnam: Telugu Desam leadership has sprang a surprise by fielding Killu Venkata Ramesh Naidu from Paderu assembly constituency, ignoring senior leader and strong aspirant Giddi Eswari.
As per the latest list of TD candidates announced on Friday, little known Ramesh Naidu is a government school teacher. He quit the post to join Telugu Desam in 2023.
“Politics is not new to me. My mother had been MPTC and sarpanch of Paderu major panchayat,” Ramesh Naidu told this correspondent on Friday.
He says he is sure of winning this election, as the wind is blowing in favour of Telugu Desam and its alliance partners. He is pitted against another newcomer Matsyarasa Visweswara Raju of YSRC.
Terming the denial of Paderu ticket to her as betrayal by TD, Eswari asserted that she will contest as an independent candidate. A teacher by profession, she had been elected from Paderu constituency in 2014 on YSRC ticket. A year later, she joined Telugu Desam.
Eswari has often been criticised by the Adivasi community for siding with non-tribals and serving their interests, due to which she lost the 2019 elections to K. Bhagyalakshmi.
“I became silent after quitting YSRC and joining Telugu Desam. Now, I will show my strength by contesting as an independent candidate,’” she declared.
Certain Adivasi leaders have observed that TD has made a mistake by not fielding Giddi Eswari from Paderu and Donnu Dora from Araku. Telugu Desam chief N. Chandrababu Naidu had even named Donnu Dora in his first list as being the party’s nominee from Araku. However, Naidu dropped Dora citing alliance compulsions.
Both Eswari and Donnu have declared that they will contest as independent candidates, which might make it easy for YSRC to win Paderu and Araku, Adivasi leaders reason.
They say, “People are unhappy with the alliance for fielding BJP candidates for both Araku assembly and Araku parliamentary constituencies.”
