KAKINADA: To win Pithapuram Assembly seat, from where Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan is contesting, the YSRC has chalked out a plan to attract disgruntled leaders from both the TDP and the JSP. The party is said to have given the responsibility of attracting dissident leaders to Kapu patriarch Mudragada Padmanabham.
As part of the strategy, Makineedi Seshu Kumari, JSP former in-charge of Pithapuram, joined the YSRC in the presence of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday. She unsuccessfully contested from Pithapuram Assembly constituency on JSP ticket in the last elections.
She had earlier threatened to resign from the party if Pithapuram seat was allotted to a non-local candidate. With the appointment of Tangella Uday Srinivas as the JSP candidate for Kakinada Lok Sabha constituency, Seshu Kumari and her followers quit the JSP.
Meanwhile, sources in the YSRC said at least two MLAs and a former minister were entrusted with the task of defeating Pawan Kalyan in Pithapuram. The Assembly constituency consists of Pithapuram, Gollaprolu and U Kothapalli mandals.
YSRC regional coordinator PV Midhun Reddy, Mudragada, Kakinada City MLA Dwarampudi Chandrasekhar Reddy, R&B Minister Dadisetti Raja have been appointed as in-charges of mandals. About 60% of population in Pithapuram belongs to the Kapu community. U Kothapalli mandal is totally dominated by the fishermen community. In Gollaprolu, a majority of population hail from Kapu and SC communities.
Hence, the YSRC leaders seem to have concentrated area-wise to get votes for the ruling party candidate Vanga Geetha. They are communicating with the JSP and TDP local leaders and rebels to invite them into the party. They seem to be making every effort to attract the disgruntled TDP and JSP leaders into the YSRC to defeat Pawan Kalyan in the Assembly elections.