VIJAYAWADA: The TDP, which is contesting 144 of the total 175 Assembly constituencies and 17 of the 25 Lok Sabha segments as part of the alliance with the BJP and Jana Sena, affected changes to five seats.
TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu handed over B-forms to the leaders, who are in the fray for the elections, at his residence in Undavalli on Sunday.
As expected, Narsapuram MP K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju was given the B-form to contest from Undi Assembly constituency, while sitting MLA Manthena Rama Raju was appointed as TDP’s Narasapuram Parliamentary president. Similarly, candidates were changed in Paderu, Madugula, Venkatagiri and Madakasira Assembly constituencies.
Former minister Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy, who aspired to contest from Pendurthi, could not get the ticket as it was allocated to the Jana Sena Party. However, he has been roped in to contest the Madugula Assembly seat with the TDP dropping Pyla Prasad.
From Paderu, former MLA Giddi Eswari was given the ticket after the party dropped Venkata Ramesh Naidu. Disappointed over being denied from contesting the elections, Eswari had announced to contest as an independent candidate.
Similarly, Suneel Kumar was dropped from Madakasira constituency and the seat was given to MS Raju. This triggered dissent with the followers of Suneel Kumar, who damaged furniture in the Madakasira TDP office and raised slogans denouncing the leadership of Naidu and party general secretary Nara Lokesh.
In Venkatagiri, the TDP has replaced Lakshmi Priya with her father Korugondla Ramakrishna.
Meanwhile, it has been learnt that B-forms are yet to be given to candidates of Dendaluru (Chintmaneni Prabhakar) and Thamballapalle (Jayachandra Reddy) constituencies. Additionally, there is no clarity yet on Anaparthi segment. The TDP leadership is of the view that it should give one among the two said seats to the BJP in case the saffron party leaves Anaparthi to TDP leader Nallamalli Ramakrishna Reddy. Though reports suggest that Ramakrishna Reddy is set to join the BJP and contest from Anaparthi, a final decision has not been taken yet.
While handing over B-forms to the contenders, the TDP chief directed them to always abide by the party’s policies. He administered a pledge to the candidates, asking them to promise to work for the welfare of the people by remaining loyal to the party. They also pledged to dedicate themselves for the service of the people and function for the welfare of all communities irrespective of caste, creed and religious affiliation to build an ideal society.
They also vowed to strive for achieving the ambitions of TDP founder NT Rama Rao and uphold the self-respect of all people in the State. TDP candidates promised to become the party’s partners in rebuilding the State and stand by the people.