Telugu Desam Party Vijayawada (West) in-charge Buddha Venkanna seems to be at his wits end with TDP urban president K. Nagul Meera playing an active role in One Town.
A kind of cold war is on between the TDP urban president and Mr. Venkanna ever since the Telugu Desam supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu anointed Mr. Meera as urban president. Though the duo appears to be working in tandem, TDP sources say, Mr. Venkanna is apprehensive of Mr. Meera’s activities and sceptical about his future.
Mr. Venkanna thinks that appointment of Mr. Meera as TDP urban president has paved way for two power centres in Vijayawada (West) constituency as Mr. Meera has hold on One Town, where concentration of minority population is high. He has been organising various programmes -- the Kanaka Durga flyover is one of the issues that has grabbed the attention of entire State -- “With a hope that he would be bestowed with party ticket,” in 2014 elections. The cadre is, now, confused over the leadership, sources say.
At this juncture, the TDP Urban president has planned to organise a meeting of Muslims, who are in concentrated in One Town. He also planned to invite MLAs and top leaders for the meeting. It did not materialise due to Assembly session. The followers of Mr. Venkanna feel that the meeting was part of a larger plot and creating a group of his own in the city.
‘Worrying factors’
Mr. Venkanna is said to be worrying about two factors: The possibility of reserving the Vijayawada (West) to CPI in the event of alliance before elections; and, the likelihood of Mr. Meera being in the race for party ticket as he already contested from Vijayawada (West). Mr. Venkanna is, however, stated to have been “comforted by the party president that Mr. Meera will not be in race for Vijayawada (West) constituency ticket.”
