GUNTUR: A few TDP leaders in the Sattenapalli Assembly segment in Guntur district are up in arms against the party’s decision to field AP Legislative Assembly Speaker and sitting MLA Kodela Siva Prasad Rao from the constituency again. Earlier, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu reportedly allotted ticket for Sattenapalli seat to Kodela.
On Wednesday, the agitating group and cadre conducted a meeting at Sattenapalli. Later, they took out a rally in the town protesting against the party’s decision to allot ticket to Kodela. They announced that TDP cadre will work for the defeat of Kodela if TDP high command fields him in the constituency again.
TDP State Rythu Sangham general secretary Gogineni Koteswara Rao, former MPP of Sattenapalli Komatineni Srinivasa Rao, Kodaveeti Krishna Prasad, Gannamaneni Srinivasa Rao, Kota Yesuratnam, Abdullah and others participated in the meeting with hundreds of party cadre.
“We are united against allotment of ticket to Kodela due to ‘K-tax’,” they said, referring to the allegations that the Kodela family was collecting money from people to do undue favours for them. “We hope the party high command will consider our demand not to allot Sattenapalli Assembly ticket to Kodela. The party high command should recognise the demand of TDP cadre and allot ticket to another candidate who works for the welfare of people.
Siva Prasad Rao and his son Siva Ram collected ‘K’ tax from TDP cadre in the past five years. We will defeat Kodela if the high command fields him once again from Sattenapalli,” he said. Meanwhile, Sattenapalli municipal chairman Yelineti Ramaswamy and Market Yard chairman Syed Karimulla tried to pacify them, but in vain.