ANANTAPUR: While the political parties are getting ready to commence the exercise of candidate selection well in advance for the ensuing elections, YSRC and TDP leaders of Anantapur district have raised the issue of locals. They have started demanding that the party leadership give priority to local leaders in the allotment of party tickets in all the Assembly constituencies.
Even secondary-rung leaders of different communities are also organising camp politics to mount pressure on the party leadership to allot the Assembly seats only for locals. In fact, the ‘local’ issue has gone viral on social media platforms. Both the YSRC and TDP are discussing the demand for party tickets only for locals with senior leaders to resolve it.
In Hindupur, YSRC MLC Mohammad Iqbal has been facing opposition from the local leaders. In fact, the party cadre has been divided into three groups in the segment. The TDP is hopeful that the groupism in the YSRC will help it win the seat in the next elections.
When it comes to Penugonda, local leaders are openly opposing the candidature of former minister M Sankaranarayana. The YSRC cadre are demanding that the party ticket be given to a local candidate. The dissident groups in the constituency had expressed their view openly and tried to attack the convoy of Rayalaseema regional coordinator Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy after a party review meeting.
The situation is similar in Madakasira as the local cadre has opposed the decision of the party leadership to allot the ticket to a candidate from the Chittoor district at the expense of local leaders. Dharmavaram YSRC MLA Kethireddy Venkatrami Reddy and TDP constituency in-charge Paritala Sreeram are also facing the heat as the demand for the ticket for locals has intensified.
In Kalyanadurgam, the YSRC cadre has expressed its dissent over the candidature of Women and Child Welfare Minister Usha Sri Charan and demanded that the party leadership allot the seat to local leaders in the next election.
Former TDP minister Kalava Srinivasulu has also faced opposition from local leaders to his candidature in Rayadurgam. Former MLA Vaikuntam Prabhakar Chowdary has reportedly mounted pressure on the TDP leadership demanding the ticket for a local candidate as the speculation is rife over the allotment of Anantapur seat to JC Pawan Kumar Reddy. “The issue of local and non-local is more predominant in the YSRC as there is stiff opposition to ‘import’ of candidates from other constituencies. Priority to local leaders seems to be one of the criteria in the selection of candidates after the issue has come to the fore,” a political analyst observed.
“The YSRC is giving preference to leaders of a particular community in allotment of party tickets. The people are observing it and they will certainly teach a lesson to the YSRC in the next elections,” asserted BK Parthasarathi, TDP president of Sri Sathya Sai district. Based on their vote share in the Assembly constituencies, leaders of different communities have intensified their lobbying for the party tickets, citing the local issue.