ANANTAPUR: Dissidence among senior leaders is likely to prove costly for the TDP and the BJP in at least three constituencies in Anantapur district. Efforts of the leadership of the respective parties to pacify the miffed leaders have proved futile as strong leaders like Varadapuram Suri are likely to contest the elections as rebels.
It was expected that Dharmavaram Assembly seat would be allotted to the BJP and its leader Gonuguntla Suryanarayana alias Varadapuram Suri would be the probable candidate. Suri, a former TDP MLA, also had the blessings of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. However, the saffron party chose its national secretary Y Satya Kumar for the seat. Suri reportedly went to Delhi to lobby for the seat. After his efforts failed, he returned to Dharmavaram and held a meeting with nearly 10,000 of his followers. They passed a resolution asking the party to reconsider its decision and allocate the ticket to Suri.
In Guntakal, TDP former MLA T Jitender Goud, Venkatasivudu and P Jeevananda Reddy aspired for the ticket. However, the party chose former minister Gummanur Jayaram, who recently switched to the TDP from the YSRC. After holding a meeting with his followers, Goud said he would take a decision on his future course of action in three days.
Similarly, former MLA Prabhakar Chowdary is opposing the candidature of Daggubati Venkateswara Prasad, a businessman, from Anantapur Urban Assembly constituency. The TDP did not give the ticket to the former MLA as his rival group sought the party to choose a Balija or Muslim leader. Surprisingly, the party gave the ticket to a Kamma candidate.
Ex-Kadiri MLA quits TDP, set to join YSRC
Former MLA from Kadiri A Chand Basha has resigned from the TDP over the denial of ticket. He will be joining YSRC in the presence of CM Jagan, who would be visiting Kadiri as part of his bus yatra, on Monday