TDP candidates gearing up for 2019 polls

Anantapur: With hardly 2 months for the forthcoming Assembly elections, TDP is gearing its party machinery to ensure their re-nomination and victory in all the constituencies in the district.

Observers say that Dharmavaram MLA V Suryanarayana, Minister Paritala Sunitha representing Raptadu constituency, Anantapur MLA V Prabhakar Choudhury and Tadipatri MLA JC Prabhakar Reddy are well ahead of others in connecting with people.

TDP MLC and Chief Whip in the Legislative Council Payyavula Keshav also will in all probability be re-nominated to Uravakonda constituency as MLA where he lost to YSRCP candidate Visweswara Reddy in 2014 elections. He was later nominated MLC and made Chief Whip as part of the TDP’s strategy to neutralise the sitting MLA Visweswara Reddy and create a parallel power centre in the constituency.

Keshav, who is confident of TDP romping home in 2019 elections is likely to win from Uravakonda this time. However, Visweswara Reddy's calculations are different. He feels that the wave this time is in favour of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and that he would surely be re-elected by the people. In the recent past, Payyavula displayed his show of strength during the visit of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to Uravakonda.

Chief Minister was impressed with the crowds and the grandeur of the meet, despite the fact that Keshav is not a sitting MLA. Anantapur MLA V Prabhakar Choudhury, who is a good strategist, has been working actively and was well connected with the people on a daily basis.

He had actually developed a loyal personal vote bank of 50,000, who under any circumstances would vote for him irrespective of the party he represented. They are loyal to MLA as he had rewarded them with house sites and housing schemes apart from liberal disbursal of pensions and white ration cards.

However, he has potential foes in the guise of Tadipatri MP JC Diwakar Reddy, with whom he has many differences. The latter is also working behind the scenes to make sure that Prabhakar is not re-nominated for the city constituency. However, he is oiling his machinery well and has already geared up for election campaigning. Sunitha well supported by his son Paritala Sriram and her loyal soldiers of the Paritala clan had been on the job of continual and constant constituency visits for quite some time.

She had been using every visit and opportunity in her constituency to connect with the people and grant all the government welfare schemes on a saturation mode to her supporters particularly. She is well organised and quick to take credit for every good that happens in her Assembly segment.

She had done a god job in bringing Krishna water to her constituency and successful in filling all village tanks as desired by her people. The JC Brothers are ready for poll battle by fielding their respective sons in their places. Dharmavaram MLA Varadapuram Suri and Puttaparthi MLA Palle Raghunath Reddy too also not lagging behind on the front.

While every sitting MLA is gearing themselves up for his re-nomination and re-election, they are also tensed up with the talk of TDP President Chandrababu Naidu’s likelihood of denying party tickets to some sitting MLAs.