TDP leaders demand Avanigadda seat for Mandali Buddha Prasad

Vijayawada: TDP leaders of Avanigadda Assembly constituency on Monday demanded that the party ticket for the constituency should be allotted to senior TDP leader and former deputy speaker of AP Assembly Mandali Buddha Prasad.

Leaders of six mandals met in Avanigadda and decided to resign to the TDP if the party leadership fails to allot the ticket to Buddha Prasad.

As per the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance, the JSP has to field its candidate from Avanigadda constituency in Krishna district.

The JSP is conducting a telephone survey asking the local people to express their choice.

The survey is being conducted on three candidates Bandreddi Ramakrishna, Chikkurthi Srinivas and Bandi Ramakrishna. After completion of the survey, the party will take a decision on fielding the candidate for the Assembly constituency. The TDP has allotted two seats to Jana Sena in erstwhile Krishna district, Vijayawada West and Avanigadda constituencies. Kapu voters play a decisive role in Avanigadda constituency and so mainstream political parties field Kapu candidates in Avanigadda.

The Jana Sena is keen on registering victory from Avanigadda constituency and hence it is conducting a survey to choose the best candidate. In the meantime, the TDP leaders of six mandals met on Monday and demanded that Mandali Buddha Prasad should be fielded from Avanigadda. As part of the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance, the Jana Sena can field candidates in 21 Assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha constituencies. Jana Sena announced the names of candidates for 18 constituencies on Sunday and three names are yet to be announced. Mandali Buddha Prasad was elected from Avanigadda thrice - 1999, 2004 and 2014. He lost in 2019 to YSRCP candidate Simhadri Ramesh Babu.

The TDP cadres in Avanigadda are not happy and finally convened a meeting on Monday. The local leaders have decided to quit the party if Mandali is not fielded from Avanigadda.

Mandal TDP leaders Mandali Venkataram, Kolluri Venkateswara Rao, M Mallikarjuna Rao, Karra Sudhakar, Talasila Swarnalatha and others were present at the meeting.

On the other hand, Jana Sena activists are furious over the meeting convened by the TDP leaders and they insist that the JSP should contest from Avanigadda.

Jana Sena has issues with regard to two Assembly constituencies in erstwhile Krishna district. In Vijayawada West constituency, the BJP is vying with JSP to field a candidate. The name of BJP leader Sujana Chowdary is making rounds in political circles for Vijayawada West Assembly constituency.