GUNTUR: After defeating outgoing Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s son and former IT minister Nara Lokesh by a margin of 5,337 votes in Mangalagiri Assembly constituency, senior YSR Congress leader Alla Ramakrishna Reddy asserted that the TDP scion was never his competitor which is why people gave the mandate against Lokesh. Hitting out at Jana Sena, the YSRC leader said that the Pawan Kalyan-led party faced an electoral debacle for following the footsteps of N Chandrababu Naidu.
On the other hand, victorious YSRC candidate Vidadala Rajani from Chilakaluripet Assembly segment said she would work for the people of the constituency by rising above political divisions. She defeated senior TDP leader and minister for civil supplies P Pulla Rao by a margin of 8,301 votes.
Meanwhile, Guntur residents are hoping that Ramakrishna Reddy will be offered a ministerial berth in the cabinet of Jaganmohan Reddy as promised by him at a public meeting in Mangalagiri during the election campaign. The YSRC supremo had promised ministerial berths to both Ramakrishna Reddy and YSRC Guntur district convener Marri Rajasekhar.
However, senior YSRC leaders expect that Rajasekhar might not find a place in the first cabinet as he is neither an MLA nor an MLC. So, the YSRC leader might have to wait for at least six months to first become an MLC and then he might get inducted into the cabinet.
Then incumbent Chilakaluripet MLA Marri Rajasekhar was promised the reward of a ministerial berth for sacrificing his seat to Vidadala Rajani on the directions of the party supremo. Marri Rajasekhar had undertaken an intense campaign to ensure Rajani’s victory. Rajasekhar had won the seat as an independent MLA in 2004 and later defeated Pulla Rao during 2014 elections on a Congress ticket.