VIJAYAWADA: Even as YSRC leader Vangaveeti Radhakrishna asked his followers to wait for a couple of days for the party leadership to make it clear whether he would be given Vijayawada Central Assembly ticket, the YSRC leadership said Radhakrishna has to choose between Vijayawada East Assembly and Machilipatnam Lok Sabha seats.
Party senior leader and official spokesperson Ambati Rambabu on Tuesday said the YSRC has decided to give the Vijayawada East ticket to Radhakrishna after weighing winning probabilities of other aspiring candidates. “The party leadership is of the view that Radhakrishna has better chances to win from the East constituency. If he is not interested to contest from there, he can contest for the Machilipatnam Parliamentary seat,’’ Rambabu said, adding that Radhakrishna had earlier won from the Vijayawada East constituency.
According to sources, the YSRC leadership is of the view that a leader from Brahmin community will be a better choice for the Vijayawada Central constituency keeping in view of the good number of Brahmin voters in the area. The party leadership is looking forward to give ticket to Malladi Vishnu for the constituency. He hails from a Brahmin community and gained popularity after the recent Brahmin convention held in Visakhaptanam, in which YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also participated.
After Radhakrishna lost from the East constituency in the 2014 elections, the YSRC leadership had asked him to rather shift his focus on the Central constituency and prepare ground to contest in the upcoming elections, it is learnt. However, the decision of the leadership to pitch Radha from the East constituency did not go well with his followers.
Meanwhile, Radha held a meeting with his followers on Tuesday to elicit their views. His aides tore the party membership slips, burned them and raised slogans against the leadership. Radha, however, intervened and asked them not to make any adverse comments against the leadership. He told them to wait for three more days to come to a decision. He felt that the party did not do justice to him.Spokesperson Rambabu, however, said the party does not have any intention to render injustice to Radha.