VIJAYAWADA: The ongoing seat sharing controversy in Telangana TDP shifted to Andhra Pradesh with the ticket aspirants reaching Amaravati to hold negotiations with party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday. Kukatpally Assembly seat, for which two TDP leaders were aspiring, was finally given to Nandamuri Suhasini, daughter of Harikrishna, who was recently killed in a road accident in Nalgonda district, after hectic parleys. An official announcement to this effect was made on Thursday night.
Similarly, the party’s Ibrahimpatnam candidate Sama Rangareddy came with a plea that he be given ticket for LB Nagar Assembly constituency rather than Ibrahimpatnam.
As part of seat sharing among the Maha Kutami constituents, the TDP is contesting Kukatpally constituency, a seat which it won in 2014 elections. The winning TDP candidate Madhavaram Krishna Rao, however, shifted loyalties to TRS subsequently.
The TDP initially thought of fielding its senior leader E Peddi Reddy from Kukatpally but the party’s lone victorious corporator in the GHMC elections Mandadi Srinivasa Rao (KPHB Colony) too joined the aspirants list and even started campaigning in the constituency. However, the TDP brought into picture Suhasini creating a confusion among the party leaders.
Following the death of Harikrishna in a road accident, the TDP is of the view that fielding his daughter would give it an advantage of winning the seat as the family members of Nandamuri will join the poll campaign to ensure the victory of Suhasini. Nandamuri family members too reportedly approached the TDP leadership to give Suhasini a chance, sources said.
The TDP leadership is said to have asked the party leaders from Kukatpally to reach Amaravati by Thursday morning and held discussions with it over extending their support to Suhasini, who is a new entrant to politics. Suhasini, meanwhile, met Naidu in Visakhapatnam and held discussions.
In the night, after Naidu reached Vijayawada, the party leaders held discussions and sources said Suhasini was picked for the seat.
Naidu reportedly told Srinivasa Rao that he was compelled to give the ticket to Suhasini following a request from Nandamuri family and asked him to cooperate and work for the victory of the party nominee and assured to do justice to him. Suhasini is likely to file her nomination on Saturday.
The entry of Suhasini into politics has come at a time when there were reports that the party wanted to field Harikrishna’s son and actor Nandamuri Kalyan Ram from Kukatpally constituency and also induct another son Junior NTR into the TDP politburo to replace the vacancy caused by the death of Harikrishna.
In the morning, Rangareddy, whose name was announced as the candidate from Ibrahimpatnam Assembly seat, which was allotted to TDP as part of seat sharing agreement of the Maha Kutami, arrived at Undavalli (residence of Naidu) and met Naidu with a demand that he should be considered for LB Nagar seat rather than Ibrahimpatnam. Both Ibrahimpatnam and LB Nagar seats were won by TDP in 2014 elections.
With BC leader and LB Nagar MLA R Krishnaiah not in the fray, Rangareddy, who had a good hold on the constituency, aspired for the seat. However, the LB Nagar seat went to the Congress. Rangareddy contended that he would not get the support of Congress rank and file in Ibrahimpatnam as former MLA Malreddy Ranga Reddy is an aspirant from there from the Congress. He also made a mention that the Congress does not have a strong base in LB Nagar constituency and wanted swapping of seats among the poll partners. Naidu, however, said that the seat sharing adjustment was already over and assured that he will get the support of the poll partners.
Not contend with this, the supporters of Rangareddy staged a protest outside the residence and the party leadership had to rope in its senior leader Nama Nageswara Rao to pacify the agitating leaders.