VIJAYAWADA: Curtains are drawn for the high-pitched campaign for the byelection to Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency. All the three main parties —the ruling YSRC, opposition TDP and the BJP-Jana Sena combine — have put all out efforts through physical and virtual campaign to woo the electorate. The YSRC is aiming at not just retaining the seat but with a majority of more than 3 lakh votes while the TDP wants to assert that it is still a force to reckon with in the State political scenario by giving a tough fight to the ruling party.
The BJP wants to emerge as an alternative to the TDP despite its claim is that its aim to win the seat. The YSRC won the seat in 2019 elections by a margin of 2.28 lakh votes. The YSRC fielded physiotherapist Dr M Gurumoorthy and the party ministers, senior leaders, MLAs and MPs campaigned vigorously in the seven Assembly segments. Panchayat Raj Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy and TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy spearheaded the campaign. The YSRC laid emphasis on development programmes and welfare schemes launched by the government during the last two years.
“We are expecting to win the seat by a margin of six lakh votes, if the polling percentage is high,’’ said Ramachandra Reddy with confidence. The TDP, which lost ground and morale following the drubbing it received in the recent elections, worked hard at the ground level even before the election date was announced. The party fielded former Union minister Panabaka Lakshmi. AP TDP president K Atchannaidu camped in Tirupati supervising the campaign. TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu addressed roadshows in all the seven Assembly segments and drew good response. Naidu and other TDP leaders targeted Jagan for his ‘failure’ to book the culprits in the murder of his own uncle and even pointed fingers at the Chief Minister.
TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh did his bit by his whirlwind tour in Tirupati and even dared Jagan to come and take a vow at Alipiri that his family was not behind the murder of Vivekananda Reddy. Riding high on its electoral successes in neighbouring Telangana though failing to make a mark in the recent elections in AP, the State BJP too made a pitch to be a party that is in race for the seat. BJP State coincharge Sunil Deodhar led the team and party chief Somu Veerraju, a host of MPs, leaders from other States too joined the campaign in support of party candidate K Ratna Prabha, a retired IAS officer.
Claiming itself to be the one which had developed Tirupati, the BJP not just targeted the YSRC on its policy decisions but also played the Hindutva card by alleging that Gurumoorthy preaches Christianity and his candidature for an SC reserved seat cannot be valid.