One interesting facet of the coming general elections in Andhra Pradesh is the decision of many Members of Parliament to opt for Assembly elections. But some others have taken the reverse direction too.
Confident that they were going to form their own Government, leaders of two regional parties Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the YSR Congress have decided to contest Assembly elections.While TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao will be contesting from Gajwel Assembly constituency from Medak, YSRCP president Jaganmohan Reddy will be contesting from Pulivendula constituency, which was till now held by his mother.
Jaganmohan Reddy was eyeing the chair of Chief Minister in residuary State of Andhra Pradesh and KCR wants to be the first Chief Minister of Telangana, keeping aside his old promise of giving the honour to a backward class or Dalit leader.KCR’s decision to contest Assembly elections to become Chief Minister has spared him of blues of contesting against his former protégé-turned-foe film star Vijayshanti in Medak lok Sabha constituency.
However, lok Satta president Jayprakash Narayan has decided to take a reverse direction. While he was elected to the State Assembly from Kukatpally constituency in Hyderabad in 2009, this time he wants to head for the national politics.Jayprakash Narayan, who released his party’s “people’s manifesto” in Hyderabad on Thursday said that he was receiving suggestions from the people to contest from Malkajgiri lS constituency of which Kukatpally is a part.
However, the sitting Congress MP and Union Minister Sarve Satyanaraya said that nobody can defeat him because he was more accessible to the people and has been serving the masses. “What have these people done to deserve any victory here”, he said when asked about the possibility of Jayprakash Narayan or Jana Sena president Pavan Kalyan contesting from Malkajgiri constituency.
Another common factor between Jaganmohan Reddy and KCR was their decision to field family members.Though his mother has decided not to contest elections, the party had given the option to his sister Sharmila to enter the fray. But she too has decided against contesting the polls. Consequently Jagan’s cousin Avinash Reddy will be contesting from Kadapa lok Sabha constituency and maternal uncle Ravindarnath Reddy will be in the fray from Kamalapuram Assembly constituency.
But unlike KCR and Jagan another MP may also find himself in the fray for assembly seat though he don’t want it. M Venugopala Reddy, Telugu Desam MP from Narsaraopeta in Guntur district has been asked by the party to contest from Guntu West Assembly constituency as he was unlikely to win the Parliament elections due to caste combination of the constituency.
According to the TDP sources, Naidu believes that a Kamma candidate will have brighter prospects than a Reddy in Narsaraopeta. Sources said that Naidu was likely to offer this seat to Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, who is all set to migrate from Congress to Telugu Desam. He is presently MP from Guntur.
Meanwhile another Kamma leader Kavuri Sambasiva Rao of Congress is in the throes of dilemma whether to follow many others and join the TDP.Kavuri, who was a Union Minister was unhappy with the party over bifurcation of the state and was in touch with the TDP leadership. But in a rare intervention, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has invited him for a personal meeting to discuss the issues and find a solution to help him remain in the Congress.