Telugu Desam Alliance Settles Disputes, Gears Up for Electoral Showdown
29 March 2024 10:10 PM IST
Telugu Desam and its alliance partners subdued the rebels in north coastal Andhra Pradesh by allotting Bheemili to Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Cheepurupalli to Kala Vankata Rao and Vizianagaram Lok Sabha constituency to Kalisetti Appala Naidu. (Image: DC)
Visakhapatnam: Telugu Desam and its alliance partners subdued the rebels in north coastal Andhra Pradesh by allotting Bheemili to Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Cheepurupalli to Kala Vankata Rao and Vizianagaram Lok Sabha constituency to Kalisetti Appala Naidu.
Former minister Kala Venkata Rao and Kalisetti Appala Naidu vied for Etcherla assembly constituency but the alliance partners allotted the seat to BJP candidate N. Eswara Rao. Both the leaders were upset with the decision of the high command and held meetings with their cadre to seek an alternative course of action.
Kala Venkata Rao will take on powerful education minister Botsa Satyanarayana in Cheepurupalli while Appala Naidu will contest against sitting MP Bellana Chandrasekhar. The showdown will be in Bheemili, one of the biggest constituency in the State, where former minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao will fight against another former minister and sitting MLA Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, popularly known as Avanti Srinivas.
It was Ganta Srinivasa Rao who initiated Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, Panchakarla Ramesh Babu and Ch. Venkataramaiah into politics when actor Chiranjeevi floated Praja Rajyam Party in 2009.
Both the former ministers Ganta Srinivasa Rao and Avanti Srinivas never lost an election. Ganta Srinivasa Rao was elected to Parliament from Anakapalli in 1999, Chodavaram assembly in 2004, Anakapalli 2009 on PRP ticket, Bheemili in 2014 after joining Telugu Desam and Visakhapatnam North in 2019.
He became minister after PRP merged with Congress and later continued with it after winning from Bheemili in 2014. He scraped through in 2019 defeating YSRC candidate K.K. Raju from Visakhapatnam North. He stayed away from mainstream politics and tendered his resignation after the Central government announced proposals to privatise Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
Sources in the party said he was sidelined by the party high command and he was suggested to contest from Cheepurupalli to fight against education minister Botsa Satyanarayana. He expressed his unwillingness to contest from Cheepurupalli and conveyed it to the party higher ups.
“In order to accommodate Kala Venkata Rao in Cheepurupalli, the high command shifted Ganta to Bheemili,’’ the sources said.
Meanwhile, Avanti Srinivasa Rao expressed his confidence that he would win the elections with a huge majority. He said the government spent Rs 2,000 crore on welfare schemes and another Rs 500 crore for development of Bheemili.
“This elections, Ganta will taste his first defeat,’’ Avanti told this correspondent on Friday.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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