Congress eyes Grand Alliance ticket as TDP is rudderless

Maheshwaram: Even though Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu is keen on improving the fortunes of the party in Telangana, the never-ending seat-sharing talks among the partners of Grand Alliance are causing quite confusion among the aspirants for the party ticket from Maheshwaram constituency.

Their anguish can be gleaned from the fact that the party won the seat in 2014 elections. They are looking to their party chief to intervene and secure ticket for one of them, if the GA fails to zero in on any winning horse. According to the Grand Alliance sources, Maheshwaram candidate will be included in the soon-to-be-unveiled first list. Observers opine that with the incumbent legislator Teegala Krishna Reddy switching loyalties to TRS, the seniors in the party are unable to spot a leader who is acceptable to all the groups in the constituency.

And hence a number of aspirants are testing their luck to impress upon the party top brass to force the GA to allot ticket to them. But, the absence of a heavyweight like Teegala will certainly tell upon Telugu Desam prospects, says the observes. Given the precarious position of Telugu Desam in the constituency, a key Congress leader and former Home Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy stands better chance of being fielded as the Grand Alliance candidate, by foiling the chances of TDP aspirants. In fact, she may count on the TDP leadership to direct their cadres behind her candidature to win the constituency. 

Be that as it may, Teegala Krishna Reddy who is contesting on the TRS ticket and Congress aspirant Sabitha Indra Reddy are competing with each other in spearheading the poll campaign – they are busy holding party meetings and gathering support among the electorate. Meanwhile, Kotha Manohar Reddy, who was defeated in 2014 elections on TRS ticket, has announced that he would be in the fray as a rebel candidate. This raises hopes of the Mahakutami strategists in frustrating the chances of TRS.

Rumours are doing the rounds that Manohar Reddy is making preparations to join the BJP. But he may face fierce competition from three aspirants who are leaving no stone unturned to get the party ticket. The candidate for Maheshwaram was not included in the BJP first list. Papaiah Goud, Bokka Narsimha Reddy and Sudhakar Sarma are hopeful of winning the party leaders’ favour. It is likely that the BJP high-command will announce the name of candidate towards the end of October.

According to party sources, Manohar Reddy’s entry will make the situation further complicated, making quite difficult the job of party brass to name the candidate.  It is not clear whether the party bigwigs have assured Manohar Reddy of allotting ticket if he joins the saffron party. Opposition to his candidature is gaining momentum as the party loyalists are unable to digest the likelihood of losing the ticket to the outsider. The ticket hopefuls are confident of victory, claiming that the party has a consolidated vote-bank in all the mandals in the constituency. 

BY R Santosh Kumar