Tirupati: BJP considering ex-CM Kiran Kumar Reddy’s candidature

Tirupati : The political scenario in Rajampet Lok Sabha constituency has been taking interesting turns in finalising the candidates by the main parties.

The seat was represented in the Lok Sabha by YSRCP candidate Peddireddi Midhun Reddy in 2014 and 2019 and he is all set to contest for the third time too.

Considering the dominant Balija community in the constituency, TDP is planning to field Sugavasi Balasubramanyam as its candidate. He is considered as a strong contender against Midhun Reddy as community based votes polarisation will help the opposition party immensely. Based on this equation, the TDP has been fielding candidates from other communities in the Assembly constituencies in the Lok Sabha purview.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of speculations doing rounds in the constituency that BJP may ask for this seat once it comes to an understanding with TDP and Jana Sena parties.

BJP is said to be considering former Chief Minister in the combined state of AP, Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, who joined the party some time back. His native place Nagaripalle comes under Piler Assembly constituency under Rajampet parliamentary limits. It appears certain that the BJP will field Kiran considering that he can be a strong candidate.

Needless to say that his brother Nallari Kishore Kumar Reddy will contest to the Assembly from Piler on TDP ticket. It may be recalled here that when TDP, Jana Sena and BJP alliance was there in 2014 elections, BJP asked Rajampet Lok Sabha seat and fielded Daggubati Purandeswari, the present state president of the party. But she lost the election to Midhun Reddy.

Interestingly, a lot of guesswork is going on that the ruling YSRCP is also considering changing its candidate from Rajampet LS seat. There are two arguments in party circles over this proposal which includes the idea of the party to field Midhun Reddy from Palamaner or Piler Assembly seats assuming that he will be a strong contender for it. The party’s main focus this time is said to be on winning more Assembly seats rather than Parliament seats.

The second reason the party might be considering was that some factors may work against Midhun in Rajampet LS constituency. During the bifurcation of districts a lot of trouble was there in Madanapalle and Rajampet constituencies as people of both the areas fought strongly to get the district headquarters. But the State government ignored these protests and made Rayachoti as the headquarters.

This severely hampered the sentiments in the two Assembly constituencies and it is felt that the people are still in deep anger at the government. In that case they may work against Midhun Reddy also as they feel that he did not support their cause. Moreover, polarisation of caste based voters is also said to be another negative factor for Midhun Reddy.

In this backdrop, there is much scope for speculation in the constituency on whether Midhun will contest his third election from there only? Will TDP candidate Balasubramanyam get the ticket or will he have to sacrifice for BJP candidate? Another question will be whether Kiran Kumar Reddy may seek his election for the first time to the Lok Sabha. To get the answers one has to wait for the next few days as the parties are busy finalising their strategies.