DP candidate for Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency Kesineni Sivanath, popularly known as Chinni, is confident of winning the election with a huge majority against YSRC nominee and his elder brother Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) as the fight will be largely one-sided. In an interview with S Viswanath, Kesineni Sivanath rubbished the remarks being made by Nani against TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, asserting that his family has been with the TDP since its inception and his father was the founder member of the party.
Why did the TDP leadership choose you over your brother, a two-time MP?
TDP supremo Naidu gave Nani the opportunity to contest the Lok Sabha seat twice as our family has been with the party for the past 42 years. After the TDP losing power in in the State in the last elections, Nani, instead of standing with Naidu and the party, had started criticising the party chief and leaders and encouraged groupism within the party. In fact, I was not in active politics at that time and involved in my social service activities. The birth centenary of NTR was organised by me in a grand manner, and I strove for the success of Yuva Galam Padayatra of party general secretary Nara Lokesh. The TDP leadership conducted 11 surveys to select the candidate for Vijayawada Lok Sabha segment and in all the surveys, the people put their trust on me. Thus our family has got the opportunity to contest the Lok Sabha seat for the third consecutive time.
Nani has accused Naidu of giving tickets to those coming with cash bags. What is your response?
By making such remarks against the party supremo, Nani himself stooped too low. Instead of making remarks against the leadership, he should speak on policy matters. It was the same Nani, who praised Naidu as a great leader when he was in the TDP. Now, he resorted to make cheap allegations after he was denied the party ticket.
You have released a separate manifesto for Vijayawada parliamentary constituency. Are you confident of implementing all the assurances made in the manifesto in the five-year tenure if elected as an MP?
When the TDP was with the NDA, Vijayawada witnessed tremendous development. Traffic problem in Vijayawada city was solved to a great extent by developing 34 roads. Now, I am confident of building another flyover from the Government Hospital Junction to Nidamanur on NH 16, which will provide an effective solution to traffic congestion in Vijayawada City. Apart from the government spending, I will personally set up RO plants in SC, ST and BC colonies of all the 285 villages that come under the purview of Vijayawada Lok Sabha segment to provide safe drinking water to the people. I will also take the support of industrialists under their corporate social responsibility in the endeavour. I will also set up a skill development centre at Auto Nagar for the benefit of youth.
How is the response to your electioneering from people?
The response from the public reflects that the elections are turning to be one sided in favour of the TDP. The fight is between an arrogant Nani and a simple me. The tripartite alliance is set to make a clean sweep by winning all the seven Assembly segments in Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency.
What are the other steps required to further develop Vijayawada city?
In fact, Vijayawada is a commercial centre. The three-capital stance taken by the YSRC government has hit the growth of Amaravati Capital City and Vijayawada. Besides focusing on development of tourism and industrial sectors, I will strive to improve the living standards of people. Our motto is decentralisation of development. Unlike Hyderabad, the population of Vijayawada is more or less 20 lakh. We could provide them employment opportunities in Vijayawada itself and we will work in that direction.