Anakapalli Assembly Constituency: Senior leaders vow to wage united battle for TDP-JSP-BJP victory

Anakapalli: Brushing their ego and rivalry aside, senior leaders from TDP and JSP have decided to join hands in Anakapalli constituency.

After the announcement of Konathala Ramakrishna as a contesting candidate of the TDP-JSP combine in Anakapalli, he intends to involve all the senior leaders from both the parties and work together as a single entity for the victory in the 2024 polls.

As part of the exercise, he recently met former minister Dadi Veerabhadra Rao and former MLA Peela Govinda Satyanarayana and appealed to them to extend support to him. The recent meeting between Ramakrishna and Veerabhadra Rao is an indication of the fact that there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics.

Setting decades of their political rivalry aside, Anakapalli Jana Sena Party candidate and former minister Konathala Ramakrishna called on Veerabhadra Rao and sought the latter’s cooperation and explained the need to work together as a team to achieve success.

Political analysts predict that these two political leaders, which were the north and south poles for a long time, joined hands to change the political scenario in Anakapalli constituency and the district. Veerbhadra Rao entered politics four decades ago by joining the TDP. He contested as an MLA from Anakapalli in 1985 and won. At that time, Konathala Ramakrishna's family was engaged in the jaggery business.

In 1989, Veerabhadra Rao contested for the second time in the Assembly elections. Back then, Ramakrishna joined the Congress party and contested for the Lok Sabha from Anakapalli with the encouragement provided by senior Congress leader Dronamaraju Satyanarayana. vHowever, Veerabhadra Rao won as an MLA and Ramakrishna as an MP. Since then they have continued to be political opponents.

In the Cabinet of former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, Konathala held the portfolio of Minister of Commercial Taxes and Excise. Meanwhile, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu nominated Dadi Veerabhadra Rao as an MLC.

After the demise of YS Rajasekhara Reddy, Ramakrishna joined the YSR Congress Party. Before the 2014 elections, Veerabhadra Rao left the TDP and joined the YSRCP. Although the two leaders belonged to the same party then, they continued to maintain a distance from one another.

In 2014 elections, Veerabhadra Rao's son Dadi Ratnakar contested from Visakhapatnam West constituency and Konathala's brother Raghunath contested from Anakapalli as the YSRCP candidates and both were defeated. Later, both the leaders exited the party as they did not like the attitude of the YSRCP high command.

Again in 2019 polls, Veerabhadra Rao rejoined the YSRCP, while Ramakrishna remained inactive in politics.

Even as the YSRCP came to power, the family of Dadi Veerbhadra Rao was not given much importance. He decided to switch loyalties and joined TDP along with his sons Ratnakar and Jayaveer.

Meanwhile, Ramakrishna joined the Jana Sena Party recently. As part of the TDP-JSP alliance, the Anakapalli Assembly seat was allotted to the Jana Sena, and Ramakrishna was announced as the candidate in the first list.

Following which, Ramakrishna, met his long-time rival Veerabhardra Rao at the latter’s residence cordially. After the meeting, Veerabhadra Rao stated that their families had a close relationship before entering into politics.

He said there were no personal issues except political differences between them. Veerabhadra Rao announced that they will work together to ensure Konathala wins with a huge majority in the upcoming elections.

Leaders and activists of both the parties were called to work as a team with a sole aim to dethrone YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Konathala Ramakrishna informed that a steering committee will be formed with all the parties, including BJP as it entered into an electoral alliance with the TDP and JSP.

Earlier, Konathala also interacted with former MLA Peela Govinda Satyanarayana, who was expecting a ticket from Anakapalli constituency. As soon as Konathala's name was announced, a number of supporters of Peela Govinda Satyanarayana expressed anger over the decision.

Finally, TDP chief Naidu convinced Peela and assured him that his hard work would be recognised duly.

With this, the former MLA’s followers are also extending support to Konathala now. Both Konathala and Peela decided to strive towards ensuring the victory of the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance in the constituency.