VIJAYAWADA: The elections next month will not only see Chief Minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu’s son and IT Minister Nara Lokesh’s first direct plunge into electoral battle but also the entry of heirs of several senior leaders to test their political fortunes.
Lokesh, in all certainty, will contest from Mangalagiri Assembly constituency in Guntur district, which falls under the capital region. The formal announcement in this regard is likely to be made on Thursday.
Ever since the talk of Lokesh facing direct election in 2019 started doing the rounds, there have been indications that he would be fielded from Mangalagiri. The party, which toyed with the idea of fielding the IT minister, who is now an MLC, from Bheemili, after hectic consultations and weighing various options, finally zeroed in on Mangalagiri, sources said.
Lokesh’s name was first floated for Bheemili constituency because it was considered a TDP bastion. According to a theory, the party would have got a chance to ‘ease’ out sitting MLA and minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao from the constituency as he would not have said no to such a proposal. The party would have found some other Assembly or Lok Sabha constituency to accommodate him. Once he was mentally prepared to give up Bheemili, the TDP leadership wanted to rope in former CBI Joint Director V V Lakshminarayana and field him from there.
Now, Mangalagiri has become the first choice for the party to field Lokesh as the TDP leadership hopes that the large farming community in the capital region would be grateful for handsome compensation they received from the government for their lands acquired for construction of capital Amaravati, and vote for the scion of the Chief Minister.
When Chandrababu Naidu was asked if Lokesh would be fielded from Mangalagiri, he evaded a direct reply saying that a clarity would emerge once the list of candidates was released. However, some TDP leaders celebrated outside the CM’s residence on Wednesday over reports of Lokesh being fielded from Mangalagiri.
Not just Lokesh’s direct electoral fray, this elections may also witness the debut of heirs of several leaders. While some leaders are seeking party tickets for themselves as well as for their political heirs, others are even expressing their willingness to sacrifice their political career citing age, ill health and others in favour of their children.
Party senior leader and Deputy Chief Minister KE Krishna Murthy, representing Pathikonda constituency in Kurnool district, has already announced his retirement from active politics and is seeking the ticket for his son KE Syambabu and Naidu is learnt to have given the nod. “The family of KE enjoys a huge following in Kurnool and Syambabu can be a sure-shot,’’ a leader said.
Similarly, Naidu also cleared the candidatures of MP JC Diwakar Reddy’s son Pawan Reddy for Anantapur Lok Sabha seat being represented by his father and Tadipatri MLA JC Prabhakar Reddy’s son Asmith Reddy from the seat his father is representing as per the wish of the JC Brothers, who have decided to hang up their boots.
However, the appeals of former minister and Srikalahasti MLA Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy to the party leader to give his seat to his son Sudheer Reddy and Rajya Sabha MP TG Venkatesh’s demand that his son Bharath be fielded from Kurnool Assembly constituency are yet to be considered by Naidu.
Meanwhile, ministers Ch Ayyannapatrudu (Narsipatnam) and Paritala Sunitha (Raptadu) have also joined the race and are trying to secure seats for their heirs. Ayyannapatrudu called on the TDP chief and requested him to allocate Narsipatnam Assembly to his son Vijay. Naidu is learnt to have suggested that Ayyannapatrudu should contest from Narsipatnam instead of his son. Ayyanna then came up with a request that Anakapalli Lok Sabha seat be given to his son and Naidu reportedly said he would respond positively, sources said.
Paritala Sunitha, sources said, sought a ticket for herself and also for her son Sriram. However, she said she would be ready to give up her seat to her son if the party cannot allocate two seats.
Environment and Forest Minister Sidda Raghava Rao, whose name was almost cleared for Ongole Lok Sabha constituency, wants Darsi Assembly seat, which he represents now, for his son Sudheer, sources said.
Shabana Khatoon, daughter of Vijayawada West MLA Jaleel Khan has already launched her campaign hoping to get the ticket to contest his father’s seat.