VIZIANAGARAM/PARVATHIPURAM-MANYAM: TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu’s announcement to give 40% party tickets to the young generation has resulted in an internal competition of sorts as several leaders in the erstwhile Vizianagaram district are vying for a ticket.
In Assembly segments like Srungavarapukota, Gajapathinagaram, Nellimarla, Bobbili, Parvathipuram and Kurupam, senior TDP leaders are likely to face tough competition from either young or new faces.
The TDP high command had already replaced senior leaders P Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Kimidi Mrunalini in Vizianagaram and Cheepurupalli Assembly segments respectively with their heirs P Adithi Gajapathi Raju and Kimidi Nagarjuna in 2019. However, they suffered defeat in the YSRC wave. Former MLA Bobbili Chiranjevulu was also replaced with Bonela Vijayachandra in Parvathipuram Assembly constituency (SC) recently.
Until 2019, Vizianagaram was a TDP bastion, even during the wave of former CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy in the 2004 and 2009 elections. In 2014, the YSRC, led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, won three seats, Bobbili, Salur and Kurupam, following the State bifurcation. However, YSRC MLA in Bobbili Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao joined the TDP months after the election results came out. He was further inducted into the cabinet.
However, in 2019, the tables turned as the YSRC won the elections and made a clean sweep in Vizianagaram by winning all nine seats, leaving senior TDP leaders like Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Pathivada Narayana Swamy Naidu, Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao, Kimidi Mrunalini, Kolla Lalitha Kumari, Gummadi Sandhyarani, Kondapalli Appalanaidu, Bobbili Chiranjeevi and others in shock.
Elaborating on the party’s decision to give tickets to new faces and young politicians, TDP district president Kimidi Nagarjuna said, “The people of Andhra Pradesh, especially youth, are eagerly waiting for the 2024 election to dethrone Jagan. Youth are angry at the YSRC government for destroying the future of the State. The overwhelming response to Naidu’s public meetings across the State is adequate proof that youngsters want the former chief minister at the helm. Therefore, we have the responsibility to honour such youth, who are joining the party to save Andhra Pradesh. I hope this young blood will help seniors in the save Andhra Pradesh mission.”
Senior leader Kolla Lalitha Kumari and NRI aspirant Gompa Krishna have been vying for the party ticket in Srungavarapukota, while Kondapalli Srinivas, a close relative of former MLA Kondapalli Appalanaidu, who recently joined the TDP, is hoping to get a ticket for Gajapathinagaram.
Meanwhile, TDP senior leader and former minister Pativada Narayana Swamy Naidu is also facing strong competition from Karrothu Bangaraju and Kadagala Anand in Nellimarla.
Toyaka Jagadeeswari, Biddika Padmavathi, Puvvala Lavanya and a few others have set their sights on Kurupam after former minister Satrucharla Vijaya Ramaraju’s family was disqualified from the elections due to the caste reservation issue. The TDP high command has also reportedly confirmed the Bobbili Assembly ticket to RVSKK Ranga Rao, better known as Baby Nayana, instead of former minister Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao.