Hyderabad, April 04: The Telugu Desam is searching for a suitable candidate to take on YS Jaganmohan Reddy in the byelection for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat. Though the principal opposition party is yet to finalise its candidates for the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly byelections, the names of Rajya Sabha member MV Mysoora Reddy, party’s Kadapa incharge Kandula Sivananda Reddy and party chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s close aide CM Ramesh are doing the rounds for the Lok Sabha seat.
Considered a prestigious election for the TDP as it is determined to minimise the majority of YSR Congress Party president YS Jagana Mohan Reddy, who had won the seat with a huge margin of 1.78 lakh votes against his nearest TDP rival Palem Srikanth Reddy in the 2009 election. Though Naidu held preliminary meetings with party functionaries from Kadapa district recently, he did not take a final decision. Party sources said that Naidu, after returning from his foreign tour, will hold another round of meeting with Kadapa district leaders on April 5.
Mysoora Reddy met Kandula Sivananda Reddy in Kadapa yesterday and urged him to contest from Kadapa. Kandula, it is learnt, wants Pulivendula Assembly ticket too for a member of his family. All this notwithstanding, Mysoora Reddy made it clear that he would contest the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat if the party leadership directed him to do so.
CM Ramesh, a contractor and close aide of Naidu, is also in the race for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat.
However, there are no serious contenders for the seat in the TDP and all of them are trying to consolidate their position in the party in the district.
It may be recalled that IT professional Palem Srikanth Reddy, who had contested the 2009 election, has distanced himself from the party activities. “The party gave full support to Srikanth but he is not active in the party now,” a TDP leader from Kadapa said.
The TDP is also searching for candidates who can give tough fight to YS Vijayalaxmi in the Pulivendula Assembly constituency. According to sources, the party is likely to ask MLC Satish Reddy’s family members to contest the seat. Satish Reddy has a rivalry with YSR family in the segment.
The TDP would finalise its candidates only after the Congress selected its candidates for the two seats which fell vacant following the resignations of Jaganmohan and Vijayamma while quitting the Congress. The last date for filing of nominations is April 18.
Last day for nominations April 18
–Agencies