VIJAYAWADA: The ruling YSRC has decided to field sons of two deceased party leaders and four others for the coming MLC elections under the MLAs’ quota. Senior leader in State politics C Ramachandraiah is in the list.Two of the six seats fell vacant with the resignation of Pilli Subash Chandra Bose, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha, and the death of Challa Ramakrishna Reddy.
The tenure of four members will end on March 29 and the YSRC, with its strength in the Assembly, can win all the six seats.
Among the candidates, one is from SC community, two BCs, two minorities and another from Reddy community and they belong to Rayalaseema, north Andhra, coastal AP and Krishna region.
The YSRC decided to re-nominate retired IPS officer and sitting MLC Mohd Iqbal from Anantapur. Thanking Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for giving him another opportunity, Iqbal said minorities are getting top priority in the YSRC.Mohammed Karimunnisa, former corporator in the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, is the second leader from the minority community picked up by the party for the MLC elections.
As assured earlier, Jagan decided to nominate Challa Bhagirath Reddy, the second son of MLC Challa Ramakrishna Reddy from Kurnool, who died in January this year due to Covid-19. After Ramakrishna Reddy’s death, Jagan went to Owk in Kurnool to console the family members and assured that he would give an MLC seat to Bhagirath Reddy. Bhagirath Reddy played an active role in the Youth Congress when YS Rajasekhara Reddy was the Chief Minister. When Jagan floated the YSRC, Ramakrishna Reddy joined the party.
Similarly, Balli Kalyan Chakravarthy, son of Tirupati MP Balli Durga Prasad, who died of Covid in September last year, was given a chance to represent the party in the Council. Though initially it was said that Kalyan Chakravarthy will be contesting from the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat, Jagan decided to nominate him to the Council.Chakravarthy hails from Gudur in Nellore district.
C Ramachandraiah, a senior politician in the state politics from Rajampet in Kadapa district from Balija community, served in the cabinet of TDP founder and former Chief Minister NT Rama Rao. He later joined actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), which was later merged with the Congress. Ramachandraiah joined the Congress along with Chiranjeevi and was made an MLC and given cabinet berth in the N Kiran Kumar Reddy government. Ramachandraiah joined the YSRC in 2018 and was now chosen for the MLC post.
From north coastal Andhra, Tekkali Assembly constituency in-charge Duvvada Srinivas was picked up. Srinivas made his political debut with the PRP and unsuccessfully contested from the Tekkali Assembly seat in 2009. Later, he joined the YSRC in 2009 and once again unsuccessfully contested from the Tekkali assembly seat in 2014 and Srikakulam Lok Sabha segment in 2019.Sources said Srinivas was rewarded with the MLC post for ensuring the party’s victory in Tekkali constituency, the citadel of Kinjarapu family.