RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM : With elections just a few months away, the TDP has expedited the process of sharing seats with its ally, the Jana Sena Party (JSP). During the process, the yellow party is likely to face a serious challenge in Rajamahendravaram.
Rajamahendravaram Rural and Urban Assembly constituencies have been TDP strongholds. However, the Urban segment has become the bone of contention for two senior TDP leaders as it is expected that a candidate from the JSP will contest from the rural seat.
Senior MLA Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary, currently representing Rajamahendravaram rural, has set his sights on the Urban seat. However, Adireddy Srinivas, TDP secretary and husband of Rajamahendravaram Urban MLA Bhavani, is also vying to contest from the segment.
Gorantla had won the urban seat four times in 1983, 1985, 1994 and 1999, and the rural seat in 2014 and 2019. He had to shift to the rural Assembly seat as Rajamahendravaram urban was allotted to the BJP as part of alliance in the 2014 Assembly elections. On the other hand, as Bhavani is unlikely to contest the polls, her husband Adireddy Srinivas has already started campaigning in the segment. Hailing from the Koppula Velama community, Srinivas’s father and former MLC Adireddy Apparao, and Gorantla are strong opponents, despite representing the same party.
When asked to contest from Rajamahendravaram Lok Sabha segment, Gorantla refused, and made it clear that he should be allotted the Urban seat as he has been elected from there four times. With the YSRC is planning to field a candidate from Backward Classes (BC) for the Lok Sabha seat, the TDP reportedly asked Adireddy Bhavani or her husband to contest from the MP seat. However, the family turned down the proposal, sources said.
JSP’s Kandula Durgesh is likely to contest from the Rajamahendravaram Rural seat. He also shares a good rapport with JSP chief Pawan Kalyan.