VIJAYAWADA : Even two weeks after the announcement of the candidates by the TDP, dissidence within the party refused to die down.
While some of the leaders expressed resentment over the party for ignoring their candidature and giving the seat to others, the hints being given by the party leadership for candidates in some more constituencies asking them to be ready to make sacrifices also attracted the dissent.
Following the joining of MP K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju into the TDP, the leadership contemplated fielding him from the Undi Assembly constituency dropping indications to sitting MLA Manthena Raju to sacrifice his seat. This irked Manthena as well as his followers, who are taking up protests for the past few days.
On Thursday, Manthena’s followers went to Bhimavaram and laid siege to the residence of West Godavari district TDP president Thota Sitharamalakshmi. They demanded that Undi seat should be allocated to Manthena. The irate TDP activists asserted that they will not cooperate with any candidate other than Manthena.
Recalling that TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu himself announced to give tickets to all those sitting MLAs who won in 2019 overcoming the wave of the YSRC, they objected the party’s move to replace Manthena with another candidate after announcing his candidature in the first list itself.
In Paderu, with the party leadership ignoring the candidature of former MLA Giddi Eeswari, she announced to contest the election as a rebel and to join the TDP after winning the elections. In Madugula, too, followers of former MLA G Ramanaidu upped the ante against the TDP leadership for choosing NRI Pyla Prasad. It is learnt that the TDP leadership is also mulling other options to replace Pyla Prasad.